The no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan was successful even without any vote cast by the estranged parliamentarians of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday night, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

It merits a mention here that the government had filed a no-trust reference against all the estranged PTI parliamentarians to bar them from voting in favour of the opposition’s no-trust motion against the prime minister.

The united opposition, however, managed to get the support of above 172 parliamentarians that were enough to remove the prime minister through a vote of no-confidence and did not opt to add the PTI rebels’ numbers so they skip any action from their party even in the future.

It is believed that the rebel PTI lawmakers were kept away by the opposition from voting in favour of the no-confidence motion to avoid any possible action against them by their party.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had filed a reference before Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser against its rebel legislators.

The reference was sent to the speaker by party chairman Imran Khan.

This reference was submitted to the Speaker by PTI chief whip Amir Dogar. The reference under section 63A was filed against 20 deviant MNAs.

The text of the reference stated that deviant members were elected on PTI tickets. The text also stated that according to media reports, the concerned members left the PTI and joined opposition parties.

The text stated that show-cause notices were also issued to the MNAs, adding that no proper replies were given to text messages.