From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: Amid the ongoing war of words between the PPP and the PML-N, more political personalities on Sunday announced their decision to join the ranks of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s party.
The latest addition to the PML-N’s ranks came from Dadu and Shaheed Benazirabad [formerly known as Nawabshah] districts as the elders from the locally-influential families met Bashir Memon – the newly-appointed provincial president of the party. Ghulam Rasool Unar, who previously associated with the PTI and was elected as the Sindh Assembly member from the Sakrand area of Shaheed Benazirabad, joined the PML-N, as Memon said Unar would play an important role in the district’s politics. Unar said he had made the decision because of having complete trust in the leadership of Nawaz and Memon, with a promise that he would give tough time to the PPP.
From the Johi tehsil of Dadu, it is the Leghari family which announced their decision after Raees Khan Gaji Leghari and Raees Ahmed Khan Leghari held a meeting with Memon.
Mir Amanullah Talpur, Raees Shakeel Jalbani, Raees Shahjahan Leghari and Ajab Ali Leghari were also present on the occasion.
Earlier this week, Karim Bux Gabol, a former MPA elected on a PTI ticket from Karachi East, had also been inducted into the PML-N as Memon is trying his best to attract more and more influential politicians towards the party.
The main, if not the only, reason behind the mercurial rise of Memon in the PML-N is his strong conviction that the party should go for closer electoral understanding with other parties to enable it enter the provincial politics an effective fashion.
Soon after joining the party in September, he was the first PML-N leader to say in public that it would opt for election alliance with the MQM-P and the JUI-F in Sindh.
At the same time, Nawaz is also eyeing Balochistan for a major breakthrough in the upcoming general elections scheduled to be held on February 8 next year, where a number of politicians became part of his party.
But this approach and PPP’s inability to make any inroads in Punjab – Pakistan’s most populated province where the battle for the ultimate crown would be decided – have resulted in strong anti-Nawaz statements from Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
However, the elder Sharif as well as Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz haven’t given any reaction so far with the likes of Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ahsan Iqbal responding to the PPP’s assertions.
