PML-N’s Bilal Virk announces defection to PTI

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: PML-N Member of National Assembly (MNA) from Sheikhupura, Chaudhry Bilal Ahmed Virk, has decided to join PTI.

The lawmaker formally announced his decision after meeting with the PTI chief at his residence in Bani Gala, Islamabad.

Speaking on the occasion, Virk expressed complete confidence in PTI’s leadership and the party’s manifesto.

“Imran Khan is a beacon of hope for the people of Punjab [who want] to rid the province of corruption,” Virk said, adding that: “A certain family has robbed Punjab and the entire country of its resources for their personal gain.”

It was quite clear he was referring to the Sharifs.

Criticising the family, he said they had “disrespected parliament and attacked government institutions to hide their own misdeeds”.

He further accused them of rendering parliament “practically irrelevant” and said they had adopted “the practice of misusing parliament to mar the Constitution and threaten government institutions”.

Virk stressed that the country did not need chaos and instead was in dire need of accountability “from the thieves looting it”.

He claimed that Khan had become “the voice of the entire nation, especially the people of Punjab” and was confident that the future belonged to PTI and Pakistan. The PTI chief welcomed Virk and his supporters into the fold.

“April 29 is the day to raise the foundations for a new Pakistan,” he said.

Imran said that the people of Pakistan were ready to declare their support for the judiciary and institutions.

He also voiced his appreciation for the chief justice and his team for having made accountable a “powerful mafia”.

Reiterating Virk’s statements, he said that the Sharifs “had forced the nation into slavery, poverty and ignorance to amass wealth for their children”.

“An era of ideological politics is returning to Pakistan,” the PTI chief said before triumphantly adding that blackmailing institutions and escaping accountability will no longer be tolerated.