Bani Gala, a ritzy suburb of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, is best known for its lakefront and picnic lawns. In recent weeks, however, crowds have converged around something else: the sprawling estate of Imran Khan, Pakistan’s cricketer-turned-politician who was ousted as prime minister in a no-confidence vote in April.

Far from fading into obscurity, the 69-year-old has enjoyed a political rebirth. In rallies across the country, Khan has led a fiery campaign to denounce the “cabal of crooks” that he alleges took over as part of a US-backed conspiracy, without evidence. After his party won a series of local polls, he demanded new elections immediately. “Every effort has been made to crush [us] but we did not sit silently,” Khan said last month.

At a time of rampant inflation and IMF-induced austerity, Khan’s message has struck a chord. “Imran Khan ensured that the cost of living in Pakistan was still more affordable, whereas his successors have only made life very miserable for everyone,” said Naseem Malik, a maths teacher who had joined the crowds on the approach to the former prime minister’s house. Khan is “the only hope for economic justice in Pakistan”, he added.