PESHAWAR, May 1: The stage is apparently set for the reunion of senior politician Ajmal Khattak with Awami National Party (ANP) on Saturday.

A jirga comprising senior leaders of the ANP, including Senator Asfandyar Wali Khan and his mother Begum Nasim Wali, would call on Ajmal Khattak on Saturday to woo him back to the party ranks — which he left and formed a political party of his own some two years ago.

The two sides — constantly in touch following their parties’ poor showing in the October elections — have now managed to shun their differences that led to Mr Ajmal parting ways with the ANP and forming a new party.

In a press release issued here on Thursday, ANP provincial chief Begum Nasim Wali Khan appreciated Mr Khattak for uniting Pukhtoons at a single platform by merging his National Awami Party Pakistan (NAPP) into the ANP.

She said a team of ANP leaders would visit his residence to bring him back to the ANP fold.

The ANP jirga would take Mr Khattak in a cavalcade to Wali Bagh, the residence of Pukhtoon leader Abdul Wali Khan, at Charsadda, from his residence at Akkora Khattak in a gesture of respect for the senior leader.

In the press release, Begum Nasim Wali felicitated the April 29 meeting of the central general council of NAPP, held at Mr Khattak’s residence, for giving a nod to its leader’s decision of merging the party into ANP in view of the growing need for forging unity in the ranks of Pukhtoon forces.

Begum Wali also said that modalities for the merger had already been discussed and agreed to by the two sides during a series of meetings held in the recent past. She said Mr Khattak’s return to the ANP would strengthen the party in view of his long association with the party and political struggle for the rights of Pukhtoons.