ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party on Tuesday decided to form an alliance with the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam– F (JUI-F) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to cobble local district governments in the province.

The party has also decided to hold phase-wise intra-party elections in the province.

The decisions were taken after a marathon meeting of the party's provincial leadership headed by party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the Zardari House Tuesday night.

Bilawal is currently spearheading a campaign to meet district and tehsil level party workers in Punjab and KP in order to resolve party differences and stabilise organisational matters.

Read: PPP likely to suffer defections in KP too.

Addressing the meeting, Bilawal said it was important to avoid foot dragging on critical issues, adding that prompt decisions help avert “crises.”

PPP spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said the chairman also directed that organising committees be set up for phased intra-party polls in the province. After the meeting, the chairman hosted a dinner in honor of the participants.

Later, former provincial party president and ex-federal minister, Anwar Saifullah Khan, also called on Bilawal.

Bilawal meets PPP Faisalabad office bearers

Bilawal, who is currently making efforts to revitalise party workers in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, earlier met office bearers representing the city and district chapters of Faisalabad as well.

Read: Setback for PPP as dozens in Punjab mull alternative plan.

The meetings, which lasted for over five hours, discussed a host of issues revolving around the party’s organisational matters, the prevailing political scenario and challenges the PPP faces.

The participants expressed grave concern over the plight of farmers in Punjab and stressed the need for evolving a strategy to rescue them from starvation at the hands of policies pursued by the PML-N regime.

PPP spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar said the meeting vowed to protect the vital interests of farmers from the myopic development model pursued by the PML-N government.

Read: Bilawal to reorganise PPP in Punjab.

“Huge investments are being made in ‘showcase projects’ like metro bus, while the agriculture sector — so vital for national economy and social stability — is being neglected,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Bilawal said he will expand the scope of consultative meetings with party workers.

He also expressed grave concern over the deplorable condition of farmers and said he had “already directed party legislators to push the issue in the Parliament”.

Recalling that the last PPP government had fixed wheat support price at a level that brought unprecedented prosperity to farmers, Bilawal said the PPP government had set up the trading corporation and the rice corporation primarily to protect the interests of farmers.

“PPP will pursue its pro-farmers policies”.

The meeting also expressed concern over the route of newly proposed Lahore-Multan motorway, saying it passed through the most fertile areas of the province which if implemented would further destroy the agriculture sector.

PPP called for appropriate political measures to prevent the destruction of fertile lands in the province.

PPP Punjab President Mian Manzoor Wattoo briefed the meeting on the measures taken by the provincial and divisional chapters of the party for the forthcoming local government polls in the province.

Wattoo also highlighted the hapless condition of farmers in Punjab and stressed the need to reverse the anti-farmers policies pursued by the PML-N government.

The meetings were also attended by former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gillani and Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Sherry Rehman, MNA Faryal Talpur, PPP’s Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira and other party leaders.