Khosa desperate to revive his political influence in S Punjab

ISLAMABAD: Senior politician Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa has contacted a couple of influential political figures of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the South Punjab--Niaz Khan Jhakarh and Bahadur Khan Syher--with an aim to take a collective decision to join Pakistan People's Party (PPP) on the request of former president Asif Ali Zardari, the sources told The News here on Tuesd

However, the sources claimed that a federal minister contacted Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa a couple of days back and requested him to return to the folds of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).  

"Niaz Khan Jhakarh, Saifuddin Khan Khosa and Bahadur Khan Syher joined PTI in December 2014 and Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa is now in contact with them to form a strong group of politicians from South Punjab to strike a better political deal with PPP," sources said.

The sources said Niaz Khan Jhakarh has so far been elected thrice as Member of National Assembly (MNA) from Layyah while Bahadur Khan Syher has been elected twice as MNA and appointed federal minister for defence in the previous PPP-led government. 

They said Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa is also currently approaching other like-minded people in the South Punjab with some insiders claiming that Asif Ali Zardari has 'something' to offer to them in the political field despite the fact that the popularity graph of PPP is touching its lowest ebb in the Punjab province.

The sources said if Bahadur Khan Syher joins PPP, Khawaja Sheraz, son of Khawaja Moiuddin, can also be attracted to join Bilawal-led party. They said Sardar Sajjan Khan Tangwani and Chaudhry Athar Maqbool are also going to make decision about their future politics and Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa is also trying hard to rope them in his group. 

The sources said that Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa is desperate to revive his political influence as the candidates nominated by him were comprehensively defeated by a joint political group called Hafiz/Aleem Shah Group in the local bodies elections in Dera Ghazi Khan. 

The sources said Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa believes that PPP has a fair chance of revival in Punjab due to back-to-back failures of PTI in the electoral politics and rumors of imminent division in the ranks of PML-N. 

"Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa and his like-minded politicians are anxiously waiting for verdict of the Supreme Court in the disqualification cases against PTI chief Imran Khan and his right-hand person Jahangir Khan Tareen. They are likely to make clear-cut decision after the court verdict that will have strong impact on the political scenario especially in the Punjab,” the sources said. 

It is pertinent to mention here that Maryam Nawaz Sharif, daughter of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had denied reports that she has contacted Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa to convince him to rejoin the PML-N. Despite repeated attempts by this correspondent Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa was not willing to give his version related to this news story.