Abidi had also resigned as political secretary to the President of Pakistan, she added.

Amir told The News that Abidi had informed her that he was resigning over the continued killings of party workers in the city. She said the senator vacated the two posts because he had not been feeling well.

MNA Abdul Qadir Patel has been made president of PPP Karachi division, Amir said.

There was mixed reaction among the party circles over this development.

Abidi’s supporters said he had strived for organizing the party and for the welfare of the people.

They claimed that the senator had been instrumental in arranging lease for over a thousand Goths and hundreds of Katchi Abadis during his tenure as the Karachi PPP president.

One supporter of Abidi, who wished not to be named, said that the senator had been unhappy over having been “ignored” over party affairs in the city. He said the senator had not even been consulted on the formation of a committee on Lyari affairs. However, some other party leaders in the city said that the exit of Senator Abidi was a “positive development”.

One such party leader told The News that the post of president of Karachi PPP was a full-time job, but the senator remained away from the city sometimes even for months.

A prominent party activist in the city said that Senator Abidi was “removed” because he had contributed to the launching of an operation in Lyari.

A party leader said the appointment of MNA Abdul Qadir Patel as Karachi PPP president was a good thing as he had been one of those legislators who remained in touch with his electorates.

He said that Patel was respected by the Katchi and Baloch communities of Lyari. Qadir Patel belongs to the prominent Katchi community.