Fact-Check: Did PTI-backed independent candidate join PPP?
Pakistan Prime: On the digital platforms of two Urdu newspapers in Balochistan, Daily Intekhab and Daily Qudrat, this news has been published that the PTI-backed winning candidate from Balochistan’s PB-39 Quetta 2, Bakht Muhammad Kakar, has joined the Pakistan People’s Party on February 20, 2024.
This claim is false. Bakht Muhammad Kakar was not supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the 2024 general elections. In fact, the candidate supported by PTI was named Noor Muhammad, who contested against Bakht Muhammad Kakar.
An independent candidate of province Balochistan, Bakht Muhammad Kakar, has joined the Pakistan People’s Party after a meeting with former president Asif Ali Zardari. Bakht Muhammad was declared the winner of PB-39 Quetta 2, a seat of the provincial assembly of Balochistan, in the 2024 general elections.
Many newspapers in Balochistan covered the news of Kakar’s new political journey. However, some of them mentioned that Bakht Kakar was a “PTI-backed independent candidate,” a term used for the candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
This news was widely shared on different social media websites, including Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter); however, the heading and content of the news are misleading. Bakht Muhammad has, indeed, joined the People’s Party, but he was not PTI’s nominated or backed candidate.
پی بی 39 کوئٹہ سے پی ٹی آئی کے حمایت یافتہ آزاد امیدوار بخت محمد کاکڑ پیپلز پارٹی میں شامل https://t.co/OOv1nWOsJk #Balochistan #Quetta @MediaCellPPP pic.twitter.com/088J3X0Fui
— Daily Intekhab (@Intekhabhd) February 20, 2024
According to the list of candidates supported by PTI in Balochistan, Noor Muhammad was the candidate that Tehreek-e-Insaf had nominated, not Bakht Muhammad. The list is available on the internet as well, and it includes all the names of the candidates.
Noor Muhammad did not withdraw from the elections before the polls. He, in fact, got 4,920 votes, as per Form 47 of PB-39 Quetta 2.
Whereas, Bakht Muhammad Kakar, also an independent candidate, was supported by the Youth Mobilization Movement, which claims to be an independent social organisation.