Imran Khan's PTI members afraid of 'puppet govt', claims Bilawal Bhutto on election day

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Bhutto on Wednesday claimed the members of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's political party are as angry with the "puppet" government as the general public. Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has been accused of towing the military's line since it was elected to power in 2018, allegedly with the help of the Pakistani Army. Bhutto, with his remark, reignited the debate about Army's role in Pakistan politics.

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"The puppet government has been exposed across the country. We have shown that their own members are afraid of the government," Bhutto was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, who credited a Pakistani TV news channel for the report.  

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Bhutto's comment comes on the day Pakistan's Senate conducted an election to fill 37 vacant seats. The election had been marred with controversy with both sides levelling unfounded allegations on each other. Prior to the election, the opposition parties called on the Supreme Court to allow a secret ballot for voting new Senators to the upper house of Pakistan's parliament, which the apex court permitted citing Article 226 of the constitution. 

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The controversy

The government has been accusing the opposition of buying votes of State legislators to win the Senate election. The opposition parties hit back at the government, saying PTI is raising the ballot issue because it is not confident of its members' loyalties. The counting for 37 seats is currently underway. As per reports, Imran Khan's PTI is expected to win big in the election.

The elections were held on 12 seats each from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 11 from Sindh, and 2 from the capital Islamabad. Elections on 11 seats from Punjab are not being held after major parties reached a consensus on seat sharing, under which five seats each went to PTI and PML-N, one seat was won by PML-Q, an ally of Imran Khan's party. 

(With inputs from ANI)

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