LAHORE: PTI leader Jahangir Tareen Tuesday established a committee comprising three members to contact PTI defectors who would join his new political party. The committee comprising Awn Chaudhry, Sardar Tanvir Ilyas and Ishaq Khakwani will invite PTI defectors to join Tareen’s political group. Meanwhile, three members of the PTI Hashim Dogar group on Tuesday joined Tareen’s political camp. They are Raja Yawar Kamal, Mamoon Tarar and Rai Aslam. The committee decided to contact important figures from KP, including former party president Pervez Khattak. Former PTI senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry and Firdous Ashiq Awan have already held meetings with Tareen. It is pertinent to mention here that Tareen has been playing a pivotal role in politics as he has strong connections with electables in south Punjab. Before and after the 2018 elections, Tareen played a major role in the success of Imran Khan. The majority of political elite of southern Punjab considers Tareen a man of words. Mazaris, Legharis, Khosas, Dreshaks and Makhdooms believe in political understanding of Tareen because he knows the pulse of powerful circles that matter.
Sources say the coming election will be very interesting as political parties will act like pressure groups, not like parties. Politicians hailing from Rahim Yar Khan mostly stand with the Pakistan Peoples Party, while those from Bahawalpur are in contact with both the PMLQ and Tareen group. Mazaris and Dreshaks are in contact with the PPPP and PMLN for political alignment. In the Multan division, the candidates are inclined towards the PPPP and PMLN. Notably, in the coming elections, PTI will give tickets to various stalwarts, but they will not be in a winning position. While the group of Hashim Dogar and Murad Raas will try their level best to show muscle. The PMLN and PMLQ are strong in upper Punjab. Although, majority of seats were won by the PTI in 2022, some seats were obtained by the PMLN. The political scenario is totally different after May 9, 2023. The group of Hashim Dogar and Murad is trying to empower itself so that it could be in a better position to negotiate with the powerful group. It is worth mentioning that the political alignments would change once election is announced.