A few days after senior politician Jahangir Tareen officially launched his Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi Saturday termed its launch “dead on arrival”.

Qureshi’s comments on the newly-formed political group — largely comprising defected PTI politicians  — came while speaking with journalists outside an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore.

Qureshi, when responding to a journalist regarding the Tareen-led party, likened it to that of a patient declared “dead on arrival” at a hospital’s emergency.

“I would only say this much about it. When you take a patient, after an incident, to a hospital’s emergency. For instance, the Services Hospital is close by. You take them to its emergency.”

“The doctors conduct their examination, after which they declare them dead. So I will only say this is a launch which is dead on arrival,” he said.

Qureshi appeared at the ATC to seek bail in the case pertaining to blocking the road and engaging in provocative speech.

The case’s hearing was conducted by Additional Sessions Judge Nadeem Hasan Wasir.

The court granted interim bail to the senior politician till June 27, while restraining police from taking him into custody till the said date. Meanwhile, details of records related to Qureshi’s case were also sought from the police at the next hearing.

Qureshi, however, has also been ordered to be involved in the probe. The PTI politician was booked in the case at the Race Course police station.

Earlier this week, Tareen officially announced his new political party. “We are laying a foundation of a new political party — Istihkam-e-Pakistan Party,” he said, addressing a news conference flanked by former PTI leaders, including Aleem Khan, Imran Ismail, and others.

The influential politician from Southern Punjab, a former close aide of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and who played a major role in the party’s formation, said that he joined politics to play his role for the betterment of the country.

“We have gathered at one platform to make joint efforts to lift the country out of this quagmire,” he said, adding that the country needed a political leadership that could resolve all prevailing issues, including social, economic, and others.

Tareen’s party comprises politicians who had jumped PTI’s ship during the ongoing mass exodus, with many claiming to leave the party and bidding adieu to politics.

Most politicians in the exodus, which began after bigwigs of the Imran Khan-led political entity left the party one after another, include Fawad Chaudhry, Ali Zaidi, Mahmood Baqi Maulvi, Imran Ismail, Firdous Ashiq Awa, Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, Fayaz ul Hassan Chohan and Murad Raas.