The survey that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan quoted on Wednesday to highlight his party’s popularity in Punjab was conducted by a think tank that appears to be pro-PTI, and did not follow proper research guidelines.
Former prime minister Imran Khan quoted this survey in a recorded message he posted on Twitter. He also referred to the survey results, which show his popularity stands at 75 per cent in Punjab, during an interview with an international media outlet.
The News reported that the Islamabad-based think tank was established by a retired police officer five months ago. 10-15 volunteer students interviewed 100,000 people across Punjab, visiting over 4000 union councils, in 5 days — 75 per cent of whom supported Imran Khan.
Many online ‘surveys’ conducted by the think tank also appear to favour PTI.
آپ چودہ مئی کو پنجاب اسمبلی الیکشن میں کس سیاسی جماعت کو ووٹ ڈال رہے ہیں؟
— Republic Policy (@republicpolicy) May 13, 2023
However, the think tank has denied they are affiliated with any political party, saying they are an “independent organistation”.
Why have you pinned it? The reason, we have responded you.
You have a journalistic right to dissect & criticize our surveys, researches, thesis, studies & analysis.But, you can not blame us to be affiliated with a political party.
It is not yellow but shallow journalism. We… https://t.co/OXc9J5QWq0
— Republic Policy (@republicpolicy) May 19, 2023
Earlier, PTI supporters shared a video on social media from 2019 in which a woman can be seen being tortured by party’s Member Provincial Assembly Chaudhry Fazal ul Haq, falsely claiming that she is a PTI supporter being beaten up by security agencies’ officials.
In the past, Imran Khan has also issued misleading statements. He had claimed that over 80 cases were registered against him when less than 40 cases were registered against him.
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://dissenttoday.net/news/popularity-survey-quoted-by-ex-pm-imran-was-conducted-by-pro-pti-organisation/&media=https://dissenttoday.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Ex-Prime-Minister-Imran-Khan-Shows-Shady-Survey-Proving-He-Is-Most-Popular-Leader-In-Punjab-1.jpg&description=Former prime minister Imran Khan has been referring to a survey in his speeches to prove he is the most popular leader in Punjab, which is conducted by "10-15 volunteer students for a think-tank, established by a retired police officer alongwith his friends five months ago, who happened to interview 100,000 people across Punjab in 5 days -- 75 per cent of whom supported Imran Khan".){kind=link}