From a well-guarded 200-acre palace in Lahore’s posh housing society, situated some 30 kilometres from the city centre, Pakistan Peoples Party’s co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari last week held marathon meetings with different party groups and district level leadership -- which looked like a desperate move to regain the workers’ confidence.

After the end of the PPP rule in 2013, this is the longest that Zardari has spent in Punjab. The meetings targeted the party’s district leadership and their grievances, which seemingly were many, and to muster maximum support of party workers from Punjab for the October 18 rally in Karachi which is aimed at launching the political career of party chairperson 27-year old Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Failing to appeal to the growing middle class and youth, the popularity of PPP in Punjab is constantly on the decline. Because, as political commentator Rasul Bux Rais, says, "the PPP leadership network is focused on constituency politics, banking on the politics of elect-ables".

He thinks the 1960s trend within PPP is undergoing a generational change. "PPP workers and different tiers of leadership are disappointed. It is worth trying to reconnect with the workers and leaders. It seems they will be listening to the party command but keep their options open."

While in Lahore, Zardari termed the politics of Imran Khan a "bubble of water", and urged the party leadership to "enjoy" the PML-N-PTI wrestling.

"The objective of Zardari’s intensive sessions in Lahore was to infuse confidence in the rank and file of the party. It had been on his mind for quite some time and he was waiting for a proper time," says PPP spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar, adding, "Co-chairperson is investing his time and effort to regain political ground. He is also undertaking a similar exercise in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa."

Earlier PPP chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who visited the flood-affected Chiniot, in central Punjab, to show the party’s political face.

Also read: Now is the time for PPP

Political analyst, Hassan Askari Rizvi says although PPP wants to strengthen its position in Punjab, "the problem is that currently PPP leadership is standing by Nawaz Sharif and that is causing rift within PPP ranks".

And, by standing with PML-N, PPP is no longer an "alternative to Nawaz Sharif in Punjab. The PPP policy of supporting PML-N is undermining the support of party loyalists," he adds.

For such voters, he says, the alternative is Imran Khan.

But, another point of view is that by supporting Nawaz Sharif, Zardari wants to push back Khan.

Although Zardari is striving hard to gather support in Punjab, some of the leading PPP activists are on the edge, undecided whether to continue or jump on to another bandwagon because, "they think Zardari’s pro-Nawaz policies are weakening the party and hurting the feelings of diehard PPP loyalists. And the same loyalists are not accepting Manzoor Wattoo as the party head in the largest province of Punjab," says Hassan Askari Rizvi.

Wattoo was a staunch supporter of military dictator General Ziaul Haq in the 1980s when PPP diehards were facing rigorous imprisonments and political victimisation by the dictator who hanged Zulfikar Bhutto.

PPP, which was high on the popularity graph during the charismatic leadership of its founding leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s, won only two National Assembly seats in Punjab in the 2013 general elections compared to 47 in the 2008 elections. The party vote bank is gradually declining in this largest populated province of Punjab which now has almost half of the National Assembly seats with new delimitations.

According to some studies, PPP vote bank average percentage declined from 41.6 in 1970 to 10.2 in 2013. In Lahore, which showed blind trust on ZAB in the 1970 general elections, the vote bank has gone down from 50 to 4 per cent.

Political analyst Suhail Warraich, however, is give ready to PPP a chance in Punjab, "if it is able to impress and convince the working and poor classes. A major share of PML-N vote bank is of trading class while PTI attracts educated youth and middle class," he says, adding, "It seems very difficult for PPP to make a breakthrough at grassroots level at this point. It is a chance they are taking… PPP is quite diluted in Punjab."

Some PPP insiders suggest that many former members of the national and provincial assembly and district ranks are considering joining PTI. In a recent development, some district tier leaders announced joining PTI in Mandi Bahauddin, sending alarm bells to the party top leadership. A former federal parliamentary secretary in the last PPP rule, Tariq Tarrar, joined the PTI after a meeting with Imran Khan in Islamabad. There are also murmurs within the party that some other first-tier leaders of party from Punjab are keeping their options open to change their political affiliations if the party does not mend its policies.

"Pakistan is undergoing change. People are restless and prone to militancy. Unless the PPP can demonstrate its capacity to utter and fulfill a new vision and not just constantly harp on sacrifices, it has little to gain. From religious militants to political militants, there are a lot of new brokers to capture people’s imagination," opines writer and columnist Ayesha Siddiqa, who has roots in south Punjab where PPP is believed to have a huge base.