Former special assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister on information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was reportedly given a cold shoulder by Prime Minister Imran Khan but she has her own version to tell the media.
It is reported that she did her best on Monday to have a formal meeting with the premier but didn’t get an opportunity for it.
Insiders said Dr Firdous kept waiting for the prime minister at the Governor’s House in Lahore to hold a “formal talk” with him. And when Prime Minister Imran came out of the room and she tried to meet him, but security personnel stopped her.
However, she managed to have a chat with the prime minister when he was walking towards helipad to leave the Governor’s House.
It is reported that she complained to the prime minister about the “treatment meted out to me”.
“You must know better,” was the reply of the premier.
But Dr Firdous had her own “fairytale” version.
She told the media that she had a “cordial” meeting with the premier, brushing aside reports of her snub.
She castigated “some mischievous elements” who have been indulging in “false and baseless propaganda against her.”
She claimed that she received a “formal message” from the PM Office for a meeting.
“One should keep in mind that no one can meet the prime minister without an appointment. It was only after I received a call from the PM’s protocol [officer] that I met him.”
Earlier, on Monday, Dr Firdous went to the Punjab Assembly to attend the oath-taking ceremony of PTI MPA Ahsan Saleem Baryar, who won the by-elections from PP-38 Sialkot. But she was barred from entering the premises.
The personnel on duty showed her a list of guests but her name was not there. Later, she talked to the media along with Ahsan outside the assembly and said she was denied entry as she was late for the ceremony.
In a bizarre turn of events in Punjab’s politics last week, Dr Firdous tendered her resignation from the post of adviser. On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar accepted her resignation, according to a notification issued from his office.
