Will move forward together with Jahangir Tareen, says ex-AJK PM Tanveer Ilyas.

ISLAMABAD -- Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas said after a meeting with Jahangir Khan Tareen - who used to be a close aide of PTI chief Imran Khan before heading a group of dissidents in the party - in Lahore on Saturday that an understanding had been reached with the JKT group on moving forward together.

'Our understanding with Jahangir Tareen is that we will move forward together,' the former PTI leader said while speaking to the media, adding that work regarding a new party was under way.

'Good news is on the way for PTI members looking for a position of leadership in other parties,' he further stated.

When asked about reports of two other ex-PTI leaders, Hashim Dogar and Murad Raas of planning to 'form a new group and identity', he said, 'They are our own people. There will be no separate group and we all will move forward together.'

Standing alongside Ilyas, former Punjab minister Nauman Langrial also said, 'We will welcome anyone who is ready to leave the PTI and its narrative.'

These statements come amid reports of the JKT group - which had emerged as a faction in the PTI comprising the party's dissident parliamentarians - stepping up efforts to poach as many PTI defectors as it can to swell its ranks ahead of general elections.

In recent days, several PTI members, including prominent leaders, have party ways with the party following a state crackdown on it over allegations of their involvement in vandalism during May 9...