Pakistan: Imran Khan directs newly elected Punjab CM Elahi to restore PTI's welfare schemes

Lahore [Pakistan], July 29 (ANI): Following the induction of PTI-backed candidate, Pervaiz Elahi as Chief Minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, the country's former prime minister Imran Khan directed Elahi to immediately restore all the social welfare programmes initiated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime.
The regimes that the PTI chief instructed Elahi for included the health insurance card, shelter homes and Langarkhanas, etc to ensure the support of citizens for general elections, The Express Tribune reported.
While speaking to the chief minister via a video link, Imran lamented that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led coalition government had suspended all the public welfare schemes while being in power and did not pay heed to PTI's strategies.
However, the newly elected Chief Minister, Pervaiz Elahi said that the provincial government would swiftly move forward on these programmes and did not commit to it.
The meeting was attended by former federal minister Moonis Elahi, Dr Shahbaz Gill, and other senior officials, reported The Express Tribune.
During the meeting, the ongoing political turmoil in the country and matters of mutual interest came under discussion. Earlier, Khan was scheduled to visit Lahore but he had to cancel his visit at the eleventh hour owing to poor weather conditions.
The Supreme Court declared Pervaiz Elahi as Punjab's Chief Minister in a recent verdict against the ruling of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammed Mazari.
The top court declared Mazari's ruling in the Punjab chief minister's election "illegal" and ruled that PTI's candidate Pervaiz Elahi will be the new CM of the province.

Elahi was a joint candidate of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the PML. Mazari announced Shahbaz, son of Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, as the chief minister and said that the 10 votes of the PML were excluded since its Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain wrote a letter to his party members to vote for Shahbaz.
The court overruled the election of Shehbaz and declared Elahi the winner, following which the party observed a 'Thanksgiving Day'. (ANI)