Senior journalist reveals Imran Khan’s 'abrupt response' on NA-154 defeat, reasons of failure

LAHORE - “Every setback is an opportunity to analyse mistakes,” tweeted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan after Jahangir Khan Tareen’s son, Ali Khan Tareen failed to bag victory in NA-154 by-polls on Monday.

Imran Khan, who seemed to be confident regarding winning the by-election on the seat after selecting Ali Khan Tareen as a candidate, was traumatized after he received the news about his defeat in Lodhran, said a journalist.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/imran-sees-na-154-defeat-an-opportunity-to-analyse-mistakes/

A senior journalist, Fayaz Mahmood, in his Urdu blog said he received news regarding PTI’s unexpected defeat when Imran Khan was busy highlighting his achievements at an event in Islamabad High Court.

The journalist writes that he approached Khan and whispered in his ear about the news, and added that the PTI chief was not ready to believe it. He said, “I had to repeat what I said, and then Khan, who was in shock could not say anything else except 'Really?'”.

When the journalist asked about the reasons behind the defeat, Khan said: “Wait until complete results”.

Mahmood in his blog also exposed some mistakes that paved that way for PML-N to bag victory.

The journalist said on contacting a friend from Lodhran he was informed that people cast votes for PML-N in order to express their anger over Ali Tareen’s election strategy.

The journalist’s friend claimed that Tareen during election campaign distributed money, Rs2,000 to each individual, which was perceived as a bribe, resulting in extreme displeasure that is reflected in the election results.

The journalist said that the PTI chief should investigate the matter of distributing money among voters and take strict action as general elections are looming.