PTI’s ‘isolated’ Jahangir Khan Tareen arrived in Lahore on Friday after spending several months in the United Kingdom. Tareen, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader and party’s former secretary-general and once one of the closest confidantes of PM Imran, left London for Lahore after spending over seven months – following developing differences with the prime minister and then the publication of Sugar Commission report.
Jahangir Khan Tareen
Businessman-turn-politician Jahangir Khan Tareen had won three more elections, using the platform of different political parties, the PML (Q), PML (F) and finally the PTI as once one of the closest confidantes of PM Khan. The past headed the Punjab task force on agriculture from 1977 to 1979 and the provincial task force on wheat procurement and marketing from 2001 to 2002.
His political assignments, including being a special adviser to the then CM Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, before he became the federal minister for industries and production during the tenure of former PM Shaukat Aziz.
Even as before the 2008 elections, Tareen quitted the PML (Q) and contested the election from the platform of PML (F). He was also appointed the party’s parliamentary leader in the national assembly, where he formed his own faction.
The controversial political reputation of Tareen
As one of the wealthiest politicians and businessmen in the country, Tareen’s political reputation was often controversial, even before he was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2016. Within the PTI, the politician survived numerous major onslaughts, such as PTI’s election commission report by retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed or the episode with Tasneem Noorani.
Both men, who enjoyed a reputation of integrity, were left with no other option but to quit the party.
The party headed by Imran Khan, also stood by Tareen, even when some of the founding members of the party, specifically Hamid Khan, insisted that Khan review his relationship with Tareen.
Imran Khan backed Jahangir Khan Tareen when the latter developed a serious political scuffle with Shah Mehmood Qureshi to an extent that the latter accused him of playing a doubtful role in his defeat in the provincial election of 2018. Qureshi claimed that Tareen supported his opponent to avert Qureshi from getting the top slot of chief minister Punjab.
Tareen’s 10-year-old journey in the PTI has been marked with one controversy after another.
Within two years after joining the PTI in 2011, he was nominated by the party’s chief as the PTI’s secretary-general, replacing former CM Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khan Khattak. Though, the 2016 apex court verdict shot down his dreams of being the chief minister Punjab or of becoming a federal minister after the PTI came to power.
However, Tareen continued to play a key role behind the scenes. He remained the main player in Bani Gala prior to the 2018 polls. Most seats in Punjab were allotted on his recommendations, and he also supported cobbling together a coalition government for the PTI in Punjab.
When in 2018, Imran became the prime minister, he knew how crucial Tareen’s role was and thus he reposed his confidence in him despite reservations of Qureshi and other key leaders at the party.
But In the last several months, Khan and Tareen’s relationship has hit a rough patch, due to the sugar crisis in the country, which put the government in an embarrassing position, the prime minister was not fully convinced with Tareen’s version of the event that led to a sugar price hike, and thus ordered an inquiry.
Sugar crisis-FIA probe
Earlier this year, a sugar inquiry commission — formed on the instructions of the PM Imran to investigate the rise in the price of the commodity — had disclosed names of various bigwigs, including Jahangir Tareen, who had allegedly benefitted from the crisis. Tareen — a close confidant of PM Imran — had ‘quietly’ departed for London in June despite being a prime suspect in the sugar scam.
His departure had prompted a backlash from the opposition. Several political parties had raised questions over Tareen being permitted to leave and had accused PM Imran of pursuing selective accountability in the country.
In the meantime, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which is inquiring about the sugar fiddle, had sought a reply from Tareen and had summoned him for investigation. At first, he had turned down the summons. Later, he requested FIA for more time to reply to its queries, adding that he would appear before the agency once he returned.
The federal agency has sought details of Tareen’s assets in Pakistan and abroad, his bank transactions especially the transfer of money abroad, bank accounts of his family members and his employees and sugar-related transactions of his firm JDW.
The returning of Tareen and political turmoil
Tareen went abroad after his relationship hit a rough patch with Imran Khan and sudden return to the country after seven months has caused a stir in the country.
There have been strong speculations that Tareen has been called back for the Senate, Gilgit Baltistan elections and for persuading allies in Punjab while Tareen’s matters have been settled with the government after assuring him to allow run sugar mills.
Known for his shrewdness and sharp political expertise, Tareen is credited by his allies and foes both for helping Imran Khan for several-years when there was hardly anyone else around to do the heavy lifting.
Tareen is also credited with spending his own money to support the party gain media mileage and to make inroads in other parties ahead of the general elections two years ago.
