PESHAWAR: The midnight passage of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget has exposed deep divisions within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), with Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur claiming that any delay could have paved the way for the imposition of governor`s rule in the province.

The KP Assembly approved the budget around midnight on Monday, bulldozing cut motions on demands for grants, prompting opposition lawmakerstoboycottthe proceedings.On Tuesday, PTI General Secretary Salman Akram Raja expressed his surprise at the move.`Passing of the KP budget yesterday has come as a complete surprise to me. On June 22, the Political Committee of the PTI endorsed the decision of the KP parliamentary party to pass the budget, if no meeting with (Imran) Khan Sb is allowed, by the latest date possible to prevent financial chaos,` he wrote on X.

Mr Raja said that a meeting with Mr Khan was scheduled on Monday. `The outcome of this meeting and further possible meetings before the 30th should have been awaited before the passing of the KP budget,` he said.

Former KP finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra said in a X post that the party needed to put its house in order, adding that the mishandling of the issue had harmed both the party and Imran Khan.

`The political committee meeting was called at the last minute, and on Iran.

Many of us weren`t able to attend it, including me, and were even surprised that the budget was put up for discussion.

Many individuals I heard from later told me they were blindsided by thediscussion,` he said.

Mr Jhagra noted that the budget was presented as late as June 18 and that KP was the only government so far to have passed its budget, while Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and the federal governments were yet to do so.

`The passage of the budget could easily have been extended till the 26th and 27th, and space made to get instructions from Imran Khan today,` he said, adding that the budget needed to be passed before June 30 to prevent the federal government from having an excuse to impose an emergency.

`Minus-one campaign` On the other hand, KP Chief Minister Gandapur, in a video message posted on social media, accused unnamed people of conspiring to weaken Mr Khan and his agenda.

He said there was a conspiracy to impose governor`s rule in the province incase of the non-passage of the budget. He alleged that some party members also became part of this plan and ran a `minus one` campaign. `Those people are supporting someone else`s agenda, Mr Gandapur said.

He said the provincial government had the authority to incorporate the party founder`s direetion into the budget.

However, he said that the budget must be passed accordingto a schedule.

He said Mr Khan had made it clear on Monday that he was okay with the provincial government`s decision to pass the budget.

KP government spokesperson Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, who met the party`s incarcerated founder in Adiala Jail on Monday, said in a statement that they discussed the provincial budget and other issues in detail.

Barrister Saif said he informed Mr Khan about the legal and constitutional issues related to the budget. He statedthat failing to pass the budget on schedule would have resulted in a serious legal and constitutional crisis, leading to the non-payment of salaries and other government expenditures.

He claimed Mr Khan had consented to the budget`s passage and that following further discussions with the chief minister and finance adviser, amendments could still be made. However, he alleged that these officials were not being allowed to meet Mr Khan.

In a jibe directed at Barrister Saif, Mr Jhagra posted on social media: `On a lighter note, everyone should go to Adiala with a Barrister Saif mask on.

Maybe that will help.

A KP cabinet member told Dawn that althoughthebudgethadtobe passed on Monday as per the official schedule, the Assembly secretariat`s agenda indicated that voting on demands for grants and consideration of Finance Bill amendments was scheduled for Tuesday.