Unscheduled visit: KP CM Gandapur meets Imran Khan in jail

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur met jailed opposition leader and former Prime Minister Imran Khan at Adiala Jail on Wednesday in an unscheduled visit.

Gandapur, accompanied by his information adviser Barrister Saif, spent over two and a half hours with Khan. The meeting did not align with the Islamabad High Court’s approved schedule, which allows family and lawyers to meet Khan on Tuesdays and party leaders on Thursdays.

Jail authorities had barred PTI lawyers, including Barrister Salman Akram Raja and Advocates Niaz Ullah Niazi and Shoaib Shaheen, from meeting Khan the previous day.

Gandapur and Saif arrived at the prison with full chief ministerial protocol but left without speaking to the media. No official statement was issued following the meeting.

A close aide to Gandapur, speaking to Nukta on condition of anonymity, said the meeting took place in Adiala Jail’s conference room. Khan and Gandapur discussed party affairs, with the chief minister seeking Khan’s guidance on key issues.

According to the aide, Khan gave Gandapur the green light to run the KP government independently. “The KP government is in the hands of my most trusted and devoted workers,” Khan was quoted as saying. He also praised the provincial government’s performance.

Despite the restrictions on PTI lawyers, several party leaders, including Azam Swati, Nadia Khattak, and Mubashir Awan, were allowed to meet Khan yesterday.

Following his visit, Swati conveyed Khan’s latest directives, stating that he had called for the immediate resignation of the KP Assembly Speaker after findings from the provincial Anti-Corruption Committee. Khan also instructed the expulsion of PTI’s Mansehra president and general secretary.

Swati briefed Khan on political developments in Punjab, emphasizing that securing his release remained the party’s top priority.

“I informed Imran Khan that Ali Amin Gandapur has not remained silent on corruption issues,” Swati told reporters. “I came to meet Imran Khan only with Ali Amin Gandapur’s permission.”

Meanwhile, Barrister Salman Akram Raja, who was denied access to Khan, dismissed reports of internal rifts within PTI.

“There is no fight in the party,” he said. “Small matters happen in a large political organization.”