‘Petrol should be sold at Rs58 per litre, demands Imran Khan’

With Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan approving the Rs5.15 hike in petrol price, yet another tweet from the past has come back to haunt the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

On Wednesday night, the premier approved an Oil and Gas Development Authority (OGRA) summary recommending an increase in per litre prices of all petroleum products.

The prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene oil and light diesel were jacked up by Rs5.15, Rs5.65, Rs5.38 and Rs8.90, respectively.

With people starting to express their frustration over the development that could result in yet another inflation bomb, some took to Twitter to share a statement by the premier from back when he sat in the parliament on opposition benches.

“Petrol should be sold at Rs58 per litre, demands @ImranKhanPTI [sic],” the 2015 tweet on PTI’s official handle read.

Petrol should be sold at RS 58 per litter, demands @ImranKhanPTI @PTIofficial https://t.co/D1Sr8dsaOz

— Yasir Nazir (@YasirNazir85) August 1, 2019

Demands #ImranKhan pic.twitter.com/h6CXvUwYmC

— Tariq Mir (@TSM_Humanist) July 31, 2019

Demands @ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/T5KFz8ixXQ

— Imran Khanzada (@ImranKhanzada_) July 31, 2019

This isn’t the first time an old tweet has come back to bite the PTI government.

“All over the world, just on an incident of railway accidents, minister resigns. This is real democracy, says Imran Khan [sic],” a tweet from August 2014 stated.

All over the world, just on an incident of railway accidents, minister resigns. This is real democracy, says Imran Khan

— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 27, 2014

It had started making rounds last month after the tragic train accident in Sadiqabad, which claimed over 20 lives.

Prior to this, as PM Imran reached China amid Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) nationwide protests last year, a 2012 tweet of his, went viral. In the tweet, he had criticised the then premier for traveling abroad as the country “burned”.

Karachi to Gilgit Pak is burning & rulers least bothered. Instead they are travelling abroad or boasting of invisible "achievements"!

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) April 4, 2012

It was aimed at criticising former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, who had traveled to China for the Boao Forum while violence linked to sectarian, ethnic and political tensions continued in different parts of the country.