Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has mocked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Khawaja Asif, claiming that the latter called Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on election night in 2018, crying while fearing defeat, and seeking his help to win from the NA-73 constituency of Sialkot.
“There’s a prominent rangbaaz [charlatan] from Sialkot who thinks highly of himself… makes tall claims… but it was revealed that on election night he called Gen Bajwa at 8 pm, weeping and seeking his help to win the election,” the premier said during an animated address to a Tiger Force convention in Islamabad.
Calling him “Rangbaaz Khawaja”, PM Imran quoted Asif as appealing to the army chief that he would be destroyed if Gen Bajwa didn’t help him win the election against Usman Dar of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
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In the 2018 general election, Asif had secured 116,957 votes while Dar had received 115,464 votes from the NA-73 constituency.
However, Dar had requested a re-count in the constituency following the result but Asif had retained his seat.
The vote recount was completed in NA-73 with Asif receiving 45 more votes than before. The vote count of PTI’s Muhammad Dar, who had requested the re-tally in the constituency, increased by 132 but he still remained behind the PML-N leader.
Dar, who is the current special adviser to the PM on youth affairs, had later also challenged Asif’s victory, but to no avail.
