The dissident leader of Awami National Party (ANP) and Member National Assembly (MNA) Khwaja Muhammad Khan Hoti is likely to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as provincial president, Pakistan Today has learnt. Sources told Pakistan Today that PTI Chief Imran Khan had already dissolved the PTI provincial cabinet during Ramadan to clear the path for the dissident ANP leader to join PTI.
The source revealed Imran Khan and Nawabzada Khwaja Muhammad Khan Hoti met at Hoti’s Mardan residence in a recent visit, where Imran offered Hoti the slot of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) president. Hoti’s son, Nawabzada Omar Farooq Khan Hoti, has already joined the PTI and vowed to support it in the Mardan District. The development is expected to be followed by provincial leaders from other political parties joining the PTI. Sources said Shabzada Nisar Jilani from, Arbab Najeebullah, Wajhi-uz-Zaman, Ahmad Kundi, Ghaffar Mohmand, Hashim Khan and former Town nazim III Yaseen Khan Khalil were likely to join the PTI.
Khwaja Muhammad Khan Hoti was formerly Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) provincial president and joined the ANP when he was removed from his slot. He was elected in the 2008 general elections and became a federal minister but later resigned from the ministry. Subsequently, he accused the ANP-led KP government of corruption and began an anti-graft movement against the ANP and its coalition partners in the province. The source said the PTI provincial president hopeful is expected to open more corruption cases against the KP government once the governments’ term expires.
