The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) are alleging that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his party’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government misused approximately Rs870 million in state funds for hiring social media “trolls” and “influencers.” They claim that in 2019, the PTI’s KP government hired 1,100 individuals to target politicians, journalists, and
state institutions, using public money instead of their party’s funds. Both PML-N and IPP demand action against Imran Khan and those involved in this alleged misuse of state resources. IPP further accuses the PTI of creating a divisive narrative and influencing the youth.
In response, the PTI dismisses these allegations as “malicious propaganda” and insists that the social media influencers were hired as part of
an internship program involving 1,166 union councils in KP. The PTI claims no direct involvement in their hiring and suggests that if any wrongdoing occurred, an investigation should target then-Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, who was also the planning minister. Additionally,
the caretaker government had initially considered an investigation by the Federal Investigation Agency but abandoned the idea. Mahmood Khan has since left the PTI
to join PTI-Parliamentarian, led by Pervez Khattak.