PESHAWAR: Pakistan People’s Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari will separately visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa next week.

Mr Bilawal will visit Shergarh area of Mardan district on Sept 14 on a one-day trip and address a public meeting to be held as part of efforts to mobilise workers for the next general elections.

Former provincial president of the party Rahim Dad Khan had invited him to the district.

Mr Zardari is likely to reach Peshawar next day on a three-day visit along with the party’s central leaders.

He will meet the party’s delegations and finalise matters on the roping in of the people from other parties, an insider told Dawn.

He will stay at the house of provincial president of the party Mohammad Humayun Khan in Peshawar cantonment until Sept 17. He will also attend the ceremony of the wedding of former minister Arbab Alamgir’s son.

The PPP co-chairman will also visit the University Town house of former provincial minister and MPA Ziaullah Afridi, who recently quit the PTI to join the PPP, and meet party leaders Liaquat Shabab, Mian Muzaffar Shah and Sardar Ali Khan in Nowshera.

Sources said the PPP’s provincial leadership was persuading PTI MPA Qurban Ali Khan to rejoin the party. Mr Qurban had joined PTI after quitting the PPP.

They said Mr Ziaullah was in contact with PTI’s disgruntled leaders and would bring them to the party.

It will be the second visit of Mr Zardari to Peshawar in four months. He earlier came to the city in May and spent five days holding meetings with party leaders.

The sources said Mr Zardari was trying to please workers, who were upset for being ignored during the last PPP-ANP government.

When contacted, PPP provincial president Humayun Khan said he was in contact with many leaders of different political parties, who were likely to join his party very soon.

He said the frequent visits of Mr Bilawal and Mr Zardari had invigorated the party in the province and that the recent successful public meetings in Chitral and Hazara division by them proved it.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2017