The Rise of Imran Khan’s Politics: An Analysis of Imran Khan’s Discourse from 2008- 2022

Abstract

Imran Khan began his political career in the 1990s after leaving his career as a cricketer. He established a political party name PTI in 1996. His political party failed to succeed in its infancy because there was the military rule of Gen Pervaiz Musharaf (1999-2008) in Pakistan, due to which politics was banned. However, when democracy was established, Imran Khan continued to garner public support for his political ideas. He successfully achieved significant seats in the 2013 elections and established his government in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan (KP). Imran Khan became a popular leader soon after the 2013 elections because Imran Khan declared elections rigged and invalid and criticised previous politicians for their corruption. In this manner, he rose to prominence in the 2018 elections and became Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. However, the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in 2022 ousted him from the seat of Prime Minister of Pakistan, but he is still popular among the people. Hence, this research is aimed to discuss questions discuss what discourses became instrumental in the rise of Imran Khan’s politics from 2008 to 2022? How significant are the discourses of religion in the rise of Imran Khan’s politics? How significant are the discourses of welfare state in the rise of Imran Khan’s politics? It is argued in this research study that the rise of Imran Khan took place due to his idea of naya (new) Pakistan and anti-US approach, due to which he is popular among the people even though he has been ousted from the seat of Prime Minister through no confidence motion. Key words: PTI, PPP, PML (N), nayaPakistan, anti-corruption, anti-US, elections, manifestos, shelter homes, health card.