Internal differences within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have intensified, with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government accused of withholding development funds for Dera Ismail Khan, the home district of former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur. Member of the National Assembly Faisal Amin Gandapur alleged that development funds for Dera Ismail Khan had been withheld. Faisal said that work worth more than Rs500 million to Rs600 million has already been completed on ongoing development projects in the district, with the amount remaining payable as outstanding liabilities. However, he said, these projects have been allocated zero budget for the financial year 2026-27. He said that no budget had also been allocated for the ASDI project in D.I. Khan during the current financial year, with its budget allocation standing at zero.
According to Faisal Amin Gandapur, on the one hand, work worth hundreds of millions of rupees has already been completed on ongoing projects and payments are outstanding while, on the other hand, no funds have been allocated for these projects in the new financial year. Faisal further said that during the current financial year, the budget allocations and released funds for development projects in almost all sectors of Dera Ismail Khan were negligible. He alleged that the people of Dera Ismail Khan were being punished for political differences and alleged hostility with Ali Amin Gandapur was resulting in difficulties for them in development projects and provision of basic facilities.
The figures for the D.I. Khan ADP 2026-27 were also examined. The ADP includes 52 schemes with a total estimated cost of Rs102.92 billion. Of these, 35 are ongoing schemes and 17 are new schemes, while only Rs5.59 billion has been allocated for 2026-27. According to the figures examined, only Rs80 million has been released. The issue of alleged withholding of development funds for D.I. Khan has emerged at a time when political differences between Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and former chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur have already intensified.
KP Chief Minister's Special Assistant on Finance Muzammil Aslam told this correspondent that 40 per cent of the full-year budget for the current financial year had been released in one go which, according to him, was the highest release of funds in the history of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that the exact district-wise release details could only be provided by the Planning and Development Department.