In an escalating feud, the once-close allies Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Wednesday found themselves embroiled in a bitter dispute and traded verbal blows as they took the rhetoric over the election’s scheduling a few notches up.

The JUI-F, igniting the fray, accused the PPP of “running away from elections” on the pretext of its narrative on timely elections. Reacting acerbically, the PPP called into question Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s “anxiety” over the prospects of elections.

Faisal Karim Kundi, secretary of information of the PPP, promptly responded to the attack by questioning Maulana’s hesitations towards electoral demands. He said his party made its own political decisions “unlike those who yield to somebody else’s instructions to start or end sit-ins”.

Taking a swipe at JUI-F for approving the notorious LFO (Legal Framework Order), Kundi stated, “PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto endorses a level playing field, while those who benefit from the LFO are afraid of such fairness.”