Imran Khan has challenged to Nawaz Sharif, stating he will contest against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo in “whatever constituency” he chooses in the upcoming polls.

Islamabad: With Nawaz Sharif’s return after four years of exile, politics in Pakistan has come full circle. Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s chief, Imran Khan, has thrown down the challenge to contest against him in “whichever constituency” he chooses in the upcoming polls. In a video message shared on X (formerly Twitter), Khan stated that the era has passed when people with the “support of the establishment” used to win elections.

“It is being said that a level-playing field will be established after the return of Nawaz Sharif… all the corruption cases against him have anyways been closed. Now, what is left? He was waiting for Imran Khan to be jailed and for PTI to be finished,” Khan said.

Challenging the former Pak PM Khan stated, “My only challenge is that whichever constituency he contests, I will also contest from there. And I won’t even campaign…but I am telling you that the country has changed. People won’t vote for such candidates. The days have gone when any candidate having the support of the establishment used to win the elections”.

Notably, the video clip was shared on X on October 22, a day after Sharif returned to his homeland after four years of self-imposed exile. Khan has been jailed at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail in the cipher case since early August. The video clip was recorded before his arrest.

The caption of the video highlighted the use of public resources and money to facilitate the ‘convict’.

“Chairman Imran Khan had already intimated to the nation about the London Plan on numerous occasions. With absconder Nawaz Sharif’s return, the plan appears to be unfolding as anticipated. State protocol, public resources, and use of public money to facilitate a convict can’t sway the public’s opinion who want nothing less than immediate, free, and fair elections,” the post read.

Chairman Imran Khan had already intimated the nation about the London Plan on numerous occasions. With absconder Nawaz Sharif’s return, the plan appears to be unfolding as anticipated.

State protocol, public resources, and use of public money to facilitate a convict can’t sway… pic.twitter.com/t83JPm1IeI

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) October 21, 2023

Nawaz Sharif’s arrival in Pakistan

Soon after his arrival, Sharif addressed a massive crowd at the Minar-e-Pakistan rally in Lahore. The three-time Pakistan PM stated that the country’s economy is in dire straits with very high inflation and dangerously low foreign exchange reserves. He vowed to return the country on the path of growth, Dawn newspaper reported. He stated that if Pakistan was run on his 1990 economic model, “not a single person would have been unemployed, there would be nothing like poverty […] but today, the condition is so bad that one has to think if they can feed their children or pay electricity bills”.

Nawaz Sharif granted bail in the Toshakhana case

Meanwhile, Nawaz Sharif received bail in the Toshakhana case from the accountability court. Additionally, Pakistan’s caretaker government in Punjab suspended his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference. Prior to his return to Pakistan on October 21 after four years of self-imposed exile in London, Nawaz had been granted protective bail in two graft cases, and his arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case was suspended by an accountability court just two days before his arrival.