KARACHI: Former Sindh home minister Zulfiqar Mirza on Saturday announced he had decided to form his own political party after having been sidelined from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for the past many years.

Mirza said he had taken the decision after consulting his supporters and other “senior friends” in the country.

He said his party will speak for the rights of all provinces, including Sindh, adding that “dacoits and looters will be kicked out from Sindh.”

“Creation of the Kalabagh Dam is not in the interests of Pakistan,” Mirza said on the occasion, adding that the people of Punjab will be presented with facts on the matter.

The new party will follow principles laid out by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benzair Bhutto, said Mirza.

Talking about the PPP and its policies, Mirza said he had expected Bilawal Bhutto to free the party once taking the reins.

In recent times, Mirza's relationship with the PPP, especially his close friend Asif Ali Zardari had deteriorated, with Mirza openly levelling serious allegations of corruption on the former president and the PPP co-chair.

Read: Zulfiqar Mirza booked in another case on Sindh IG's orders.

In May this year, Mirza along with his associates was booked in multiple cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act on charges of attempted murder, attacking a police station and forcible closure of shops in a market of Badin district.

But following the registration of cases against the disgruntled PPP leader, the situation in Badin turned tense when police laid siege to Mirza’s farmhouse to arrest him and his associates. Mirza and his supporters claim that the cases registered were political in nature, and were part of heavy handed tactics by the PPP provincial government.

Mirza was granted pre-arrest bail in all the cases.