Bahadurabad group acting on Musharraf’s ‘minus-two’ formula, claims Sattar

KARACHI: Farooq Sattar, chief of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan's PIB Group, has alleged that his rival Bahadurabad Group is acting on the former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf's 'minus-two formula' to create space for him to become the leader of the Muhajirs.

"Barrister Farogh Nasim had told the party leader that Farooq Sattar doesn't have leadership qualities like Pervez Musharraf," he claimed while talking in the Geo News show, Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath, on Monday. Interestingly, he made the claim after the Bahadurabad Group informed the Election Commission of Pakistan of appointing Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui as the party convener.

"Workers had reluctantly accepted the minus-one formula," he said, referring to the removal of Altaf Hussain from the MQM.

"The so-called coordination committee is playing into someone's hands," he alleged. He claimed that Farogh Nasim, who is also the MQM-P's candidate for Sentaor, is asking the Bahadurabad Group to serve at the behest of Musharraf. "Please stop advising and save the [Muhajir] nation from more divisions," Sattar told Farogh Nasim. He claimed that 25 MPAs are with him and 12 are with the other group.

"They have been receiving offers from Bahadurabad to jump the bandwagon," he said, pointing out that the ball was in his court for the Senate election. Meanwhile, the new convener of MQM-P Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, said, in the same show, that Sattar was giving undue importance to Kamran Tessori, despite disapproval of the coordination committee. "We advised Sattar to give ticket to anybody but not to run the affairs of the party like this." He said the discord was not confined to the Senate ticket only but stemmed from Tessori's induction into the coordination committee and that too as a deputy convener. "Majority of the party leaders opposed Tessori's appointment but Sattar warned to quit to party in case it was not accepted." Siddiqui said Sattar never explained to the coordination committee why was it so necessary to take Tessori in the party. "It seemed Tessori's financial strength was the reason behind Sattar's insistence. Commenting on the intra-party election called by the PIB Group on February 17, the new convener termed it is a non MQM-P event.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission of Pakistan accepted a letter by the MQM- P’s Bahadurabad Group informing it of replacing Farooq Sattar with Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui as the new convener, a party statement said. The letter informed the ECP that the new convener was appointed with two-thirds majority of the coordination committee and other bodies of the party in accordance with the democratic norms.

Talking to the media outside MQM-P office in Bahadurabad, new convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said they had removed the element of money and resources from politics. He criticized Sattar for being stubborn and said despite repeated attempts at reconciliation, he did not show any flexibility. In view of the development, the MQM-P’s PIB Group has convened a meeting at Farooq Sattar’s residence to discuss their next move.