ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: The forward bloc in the ruling PML continued to be active and growing, its leaders Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Malik Allahyar told newsmen in the parliament house lobby on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain presided over a meeting of the party’s legislators at his residence and discussed the forward bloc and other matters.

The 13 MNAs and two senators attending the meeting played down the importance of the bloc, while the PML chief reiterated his desire to meet the angry legislators at any time and place.

The group blames Chaudhry Shujaat and Chaudhry Parvaiz Elahi for the failure of the party to become a formidable political unit and demands their replacement.

Chaudhry Shujaat, who arrived in the federal capital after a two-week visit to the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, was reported to have discussed the latest political situation with his confidants and party colleagues. He has not taken any step to defuse the situation arising out of the outburst by party leaders.

A member of the federal cabinet, who requested anonymity, confided to Dawn that mistrust about the party leadership persisted in the party, which was reflected in the outburst of the forward bloc leaders.

He confirmed that a number of ministers had sympathies with the bloc but since they were under discipline, they honoured a shut-up call given by the prime minister.

Senior Minister PPP-Sherpao chairman Rao Sikandar Iqbal has already supported the dissident group by allowing two of his party legislators to join it.

The forward bloc has established contact to gain the support of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and some of its leaders have visited the Nine Zero in Karachi and held talks with the major government allied party leaders.

The federal cabinet member said that whenever a situation arose, the disgruntled element in the cabinet would definitely show muscles and openly side with the opponents of the Chaudhrys.

The disgruntled leaguers group claimed to have won over six more legislators on their side after losing some 13 out of 35 due to the persuasion by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Parvaiz Ilahi.

Talking to the newsmen, Riaz Pirzada reiterated the demand of a meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf to vent their grievances.

He said the group would meet next week to devise a future line of action.

In reply to a query, Mr Pirzada said Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan was supporting the group while prime minister’s special assistant Muhammad Ali Durrani was on the government’s side.

Asked about the number of people joining the forward bloc, Malik Allahyar said in a light vein: “We have lost some people, but more have joined us in the meantime and the number is growing.”