NEW DELHI: Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf emerged as the largest party in the July 25 elections, securing 116 seats in the 342-member Lower House, but short of the 172 needed for a majority. After some intense wrangling, Khan won a simple majority in the National Assembly with 176 votes.The ceremony ended decades of rotating leadership between the ousted PML-N and the PPP, and long periods of military rule.
Sidhu, a Congress minister in Punjab, had skipped the funeral of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday to attend Imran’s swearing in. Incidentally, Vajpayee had inducted Sidhu into politics in 2004.“I am going to Pakistan as a goodwill ambassador,” the former cricketer-turned-politician had told journalists before crossing the Wagah-Attari border on Friday, carrying a Kashmiri shawl as a gift for Imran.
“Who the hell died and made him (Sidhu) a goodwill ambassador?” fumed retired Colonel Kailash Dar.
“On the day he crossed the border, a soldier from 32 Rashtriya Rifles and two civilians, including a woman, were killed by terrorists from Pakistan. What ‘goodwill’ is he talking about?”