HARIPUR: As former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to address a public meeting in Haripur today (Saturday), the differences within the ranks of ruling PML-N are about to deepen as Gohar Ayub Khan group has decided to boycott the party chief’s meeting.

According to observers, though the group has yet to announce formal parting

ways with PML-N, it could demoralise workers and leave a negative impact on the party’s future strategy of at least retaining the seats it had won during the last election.

Informed sources told this scribe that the party ticket for National Assembly seat and ignoring the senior workers on different occasions appeared to be instrumental in driving a wedge between the Gohar Ayub group and senior leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Observers say that from this group former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan had long affiliation with Nawaz Sharif since 1990.

Gohar Ayub group to boycott public meeting

While Omar Ayub Khan entered the election 2013 on PML-N ticket, he had to get out of the contest when the Supreme Court ordered by-election in NA-19, facilitating sitting MNA Babar Nawaz, a new entrant in the politics, to defeat his archrival PTI candidate Raja Amir Zaman.

Sources said that after the by-election on this seat, the distance between Sharifs and Gohar group started widening.

Dejected by the attitude of senior leadership, Omar Ayub started his election campaign on his own from last year.

During this period, according to insiders, on the request of first cousin Akbar Ayub Khan, currently serving as adviser to chief minister KP on C&W, he met some senior PTI leaders, but the matter of his formally joining PTI is still lingering.

However, to bring an end to the rumours about his parting ways with PML-N, his group decided to boycott Nawaz’s public meeting today.

“Yes, it’s true my group is not going to participate in the public meeting of Mian Sahib,” he said, adding that he had differences with the party leadership

over prematurely announcing the candidate and ignoring his family’s services for the party.

About future of his politics, he said he would contest the election from NA-19 at every cost and would return winner. About joining PTI, he said that he would announce any decision after consultation with his supporters.

However, Mr Ayub denied having a meeting with the PTI leadership. On the other hand, former PML-N MNA Sardar Mushtaq Khan claimed that he would be a consensus candidate of the party.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2018