The inside story of Asad Umar and Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s meeting with PM Imran

Federal ministers Asad Umar and Shah Mehmood Qureshi have asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action against Science Minister Fawad Chaudhry after he held them responsible for party’s failure to deliver, sources informed Geo News on Thursday.

Sources said that the two top PTI leaders, whom Fawad named while narrating the infighting saga of the party, met with the premier on Wednesday and pushed him to seek resignation from Chaudhry.

“From Fawad Chaudhry’s interview it seemed as if we are behind the failures,” the leaders were quoted as saying before the prime minister.

The two leaders expressed displeasure with Chaudhry, saying that an impression is being given that the PTI government is ‘failing’ because of them.

They said that they did not conspire against Jahangir Tareen, cautioning the premier that if no action is taken against Fawad Chaudhry then it will give an impression of weakness.

'Will not resign'

Federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said politics is not for the “faint-hearted”, vowing to perform as a minister till he has the confidence of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He was responding to Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, who had asked him to quit.

“I will stay on as a minister till I have the trust of Prime Minister Imran Khan. There is no question of resigning on someone else’s wish,” tweeted Chaudhry on Thursday after calls for his resignation gained momentum.

PTI founding member throws weight behind Fawad 

Najeeb Haroon, put his weight behind Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry’s statement regarding party infighting involving Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Jahangir Tareen.

While speaking to Geo Pakistan, Haroon said Chuahdry was with the government since day one and has better knowledge.

“Whatever Fawad Chaudhry is saying I believe is correct,” said Najeeb.

He added that Chaudhry had been at the forefront of the party’s affairs since the beginning, therefore, he comes from a place of knowledge.

“The party is due to Khan sahib, people have expectations from Imran Khan,” said the PTI leader, expressing hope that the prime minister should assess people rightly.

Fawad Chaudhry's revelations

On Sunday, Chaudhry said that infighting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Asad Umar and PTI leader Jahangir Tareen has had an adverse impact on the party and has been one of the main reasons behind Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision not going according to plan.

“There were a lot of expectations from PTI and Imran Khan,” Chaudhry said in an interview with Sohail Warraich for Voice of America. “The public had not elected us or the prime minister to fix nuts and bolts but to reform the system.”

Chaudhry said that problems arose when the government was formed and differences between Umar, Tareen and Qureshi increased. "These differences pushed the entire political class out of the game altogether."