Qureshi claims PTI 'conspired' against him to ensure defeat on provincial assembly seat in 2018 elections

• PTI leader says “conspiracy” did not affect him but it impacted Multan and south Punjab.
• I had told Imran Khan that had I won, Punjab would not have been like this, says Qureshi.
• Qureshi says he was advised not to field his son Zain as a candidate in the Punjab by-poll.

In a startling claim, PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi alleged on Wednesday that his party had “conspired” against him to ensure his defeat in the provincial assembly seat he was contesting for in the 2018 general elections.

“In the 2018 general elections, my own party conspired against me to defeat me in the provincial assembly elections,” said Qureshi while addressing a corner meeting for the PP-217 by-election.

The PTI leader said that this “conspiracy” had no impact on him as he became the foreign minister but claimed that the defeat did affect Multan and south Punjab.

“I had told Imran Khan that had I won, Punjab would not have been like this,” said Qureshi. He also shared that a lot of people had advised him not to make his son, Zain Qureshi, contest the by-election because he was the vice-chairman and it would be humiliating if his son loses.

“I told them that some fights are not fought for winning,” said Qureshi on the advice.  

In the PP 217 elections, Qureshi was defeated by independent candidate Muhammad Salman Naeem. He later joined the PTI after the 2018 election on Jahangir Tareen's advice.

However, he was unseated after he voted in favour of Hamza Shehbaz during the Punjab chief minister elections. However, Naeem is contesting on a PML-N ticket now, while the PTI has given the ticket to Zain Qureshi.