Claim: Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur belittled Imran Khan while speaking to journalists, calling the jailed PTI chairman “worthless” and asserted that he would act as he deems fit.
Fact: This claim is false. A review of the full press conference confirmed that Gandapur did not make any such remarks. Additionally, the KP Chief Minister did not make any derogatory remarks about Imran Khan in the accompanying video either.
X user @Tahirmughalpml8 shared a video (archive) of the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, writing, “عمران خان کی کوئی اوقات نہیں جو کرنا ہے میں نے کرنا ہے ۔۔ عمران خان کے موضوع پر بات کرنا فضول ھے ، گنڈا پور کا صحافیوں کو جواب ،
کسی صحافی کو بھی عمران خان کے بارے میں بات کرنے کا موقع نہیں دیا ۔۔”
[Translation: Imran Khan is worthless, whatever needs to be done, I will do it.. Talking about Imran Khan is a waste of time, Gandapur’s response to journalists,
No journalist was allowed to talk about Imran Khan..]
At the beginning of the video, a reporter asked Ali Amin Gandapur about his remarks on some PTI members being conspirators. He asked, “Sir aap se ek bayan mansoob hai, aap keh rahay hain ke Imran Khan ka hukaam hai ke Shahram Tarakai, Atif Khan aur Asad Qaiser ko-” [Sir a statement has been attributed to you in which you’re saying that Imran Khan instructed Shahram Tarakai, Atif Khan, and Asad Qaiser-]
Gandapur interrupted the reporter, saying, “Yeh ek eham sawal nahi hai. Itnay eham uss mein…” [This is not an important question. During such an important…] What he said next is unintelligible as the reporter asserted, “Sir aap saazish ka bata rahay thay.” [Sir, you were telling us about a conspiracy.]
The video then transitions to another moment in which Gandapur addresses the press saying, “Ek eham baat cheet horahi hai us ke tak hi rehna chahta hoon. Yeh ek ghair eham baat hai.” [We’re having an important conversation, and I’d like to limit it to that. This is an unimportant issue.]
He added, “Mein ne jab kaha tou aap woh poori baat meri sun lein mein ne saazishi wala Imran Khan se munsalik nahi kiya, ticket wala Imran Khan se munsalik kiya hai. Mein uss baat pe jo mein ne kaha hai mein stand kar raha hoon. Aur baaki iss waqt mein nahi samjhta ke iss mauzo pe hum baat karein kyun ke itna eham mauzo nahi hai.” [You should hear my entire statement in which I did not attribute the conspiracy part to Imran Khan, but the part about the ticket. I stand by what I said. However, I do not believe that we should talk about this topic as it is not that important.]
During the remainder of the video, he spoke about how a certain group claims that they are working for Pakistan, and how he told Imran Khan that he will soon reveal who is really working for the country.
Discord among the PTI
During an exclusive interview with journalist Irshad Bhatti, Ali Amin Gandapur disclosed that the jailed PTI founder had specifically instructed party leadership not to award provincial election tickets to Atif Khan, Shahram Khan Tarakai, and Asad Qaiser. He added that the decision was based on concerns that these individuals had been involved in conspiracies and could do so again in the future.
Gandapur’s statement sparked backlash, with Asad Qaiser and Shahram Tarakai demanding an inquiry into the CM’s remarks and clarifying Khan’s stance. Meanwhile, other PTI leaders like Atif Khan and Junaid Akbar distanced themselves from the controversy, denying any statements against Gandapur or other party figures.
Separately, KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati was asked to step down amid corruption allegations. Babar Swati refused unless directly instructed by Imran Khan, accusing Azam Swati of lying and pursuing a personal vendetta. Meanwhile, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja acknowledged the controversy, adding that the party would address the matter through its internal hierarchy and accountability committee, which has yet to present its findings to Imran Khan.
It appears that the claim being fact-checked has emerged amid this ongoing rift within the PTI leadership in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Fact or Fiction?
While the caption claimed that Ali Amin Gandapur belittled Imran Khan during a conversation with the press, the accompanying video did not support this assertion. At no point did Gandapur appear to criticise Khan. Instead, he was responding to a reporter, stating that it was irrelevant and unimportant to the discussion.
The video featured the logo and name of Azaad Digital, a digital news platform, so we located the video on its Facebook account. It was captioned: “وزیراعلیٰ خیبرپختونخوا علی امین گنڈاپور نمائندہ آزاد ڈیجیٹل اویس علی کے سوال پر برہم ہو گئے”
[Translation: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur got angry over a question from Azaad Digital correspondent Owais Ali.]
This video is identical to the one in the claim. The caption, too, confirmed that Gandapur did not belittle Khan during the conversation.
Soch Fact Check decided to investigate the claim further by reviewing the complete press conference. Since Azaad Digital’s video was shared on 4 April 2025, narrowing our search to the KP Chief Minister’s press conference held that day led to the full recording. It was shared on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s official YouTube channel, titled “CM KP Ali Amin Gandapur Important Press Conference after meeting Imran Khan.” The Chief Minister addressed a range of issues during the presser, including his meeting with Khan and his opposition to the government’s Afghan repatriation policy.
At 26:49, Azaad Digital’s reporter questioned CM Gandapur about his remarks regarding conspirators within the PTI, but he declined to respond. At no point during the press conference did he belittle the incarcerated PTI founder or say anything resembling the claim in the viral posts i.e., “Imran Khan is worthless, whatever needs to be done, I will do it.. Talking about Imran Khan is a waste of time.”
A review of the press conference footage from other news outlets also confirmed that Gandapur did not make any remarks against Imran Khan.
Virality
The claim was shared here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook. Archived here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, it was shared here (archive) and here (archive).
Conclusion: The claim is false. At no point in the press conference did the KP Chief Minister call Imran Khan “worthless” or make any derogatory remarks about him.
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Background image in cover photo: The Friday Times
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