Najmuddin vows to win over PPP dissidents

DIR: Outlining his plans to rejuvenate the party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) newly appointed provincial President Najmuddin Khan on Friday said he would reach out to estranged leaders and workers to woo them.

Talking to The News, he said that he would not hesitate to visit alienated PPP leaders across the province to invite them to rejoin the party.

“Workers are an asset to the party and we have respect for them. I will ask the activists to help strengthen the party,” he added.

To a question about reaching out to former PPP leader, who is now chief of Qaumi Watan Party Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, he said he desired to meet him.

“He is a senior politician and my mentor. I learned a lot from him. I have great respect for him,” he said of Sherpao.

He said the ones who believed the PPP was no more active in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would soon realise that it was a force to reckon with.

Najmuddin Khan hoped the PPP would form the next government in the centre and some provinces.

He said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had made life difficult for the people who were unable to make ends meet due to growing price-hike and joblessness.

He said the people were now looking to PPP and its Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as they were a hope for the poor.

He claimed former MNAs and MPAs had already started joining the party, saying his appointment as PPP’s provincial president was received well by party workers and people.

He said he was accorded a warm welcome in several districts of the province, including Peshawar.

Najmuddin Khan has been a loyal and long-time member of the PPP who served as federal minister in the last PPP government.

He won election to the National Assembly and provincial assembly seats in the past. Though PPP did not do well in the province, it won two provincial assembly seats from Upper Dir.