Islamabad, September 21,2024-Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Atta Tarar, has remarked that the PTI rally turned out to be a case of “much ado about nothing.” In his statement about PTI rally, he emphasized that there were no obstacles for participants heading to the rally. “We eagerly awaited the PTI rally. People were gathered from across Pakistan, and all routes in Lahore were open. Just like in Islamabad, the PTI rally in Lahore also ended in failure,” he said.
Tarar accused PTI of seeking an “NRO” for their leader’s release, which he insisted would not happen. “They made grand claims about the Lahore rally, with leaders like Ali Amin Gandapur boasting, but in the end, it was a complete flop. The public has rejected their divisive politics, and their lofty promises were left unfulfilled,” Tarar added. He also condemned PTI leader Latif Khosa for his remarks about the Chief Justice during the rally.
Meanwhile, Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bukhari expressed similar sentiments, stating that the people had rejected PTI by ensuring the rally’s failure. During a press conference at the DPR alongside Khawaja Imran Nazir and Shoaib Bhart, she declared, “The PTI rally has been a complete failure. We are still waiting for Ali Amin Gandapur, who seems unconcerned about his own province.”
Bukhari further revealed that only a few attendees managed to show up at the Lahore rally, with numbers between 1,500 and 1,600. She provided details about the turnout, noting that only 263 people came from Sargodha, 85 from Gujranwala, and various other small groups from different districts. “Even leaders like Latif Khosa could only gather 25 supporters, and PTI Lahore President Imtiaz Ahmed managed to bring just 20 people,” she stated.
The Minister criticized the rally’s low attendance despite PTI’s efforts to bring people from all over the country. “Haleem Adil Sheikh from Karachi could only manage to bring 60 people to ‘conquer Lahore.’ This weekend in Lahore has been more peaceful than usual. At most, there were only 3,000 people at the rally,” Bukhari said.
She concluded by thanking the people of Punjab for rejecting what she termed a “party of chaos” and for supporting the provincial government.