MULTAN: Former chief minister Dost Muhammad Khosa is likely to join the PPP, Dawn has learnt.

Sources close to Mr Khosa said a couple of meetings were held between him and the PPP leadership. He will formerly announce his joining at Karachi’s Bilawal House on Dec 22. They further said that Mr Khosa was not the only one joining the PPP, but he has also held meetings with some former and incumbent lawmakers of the area who had also expressed their willingness to join the party.

The sources said that Mr Khosa believes that in the future, the PPP will have a prominent role in the country’s politics, particularly south Punjab. Mr Khosa is also said to have informed his father, Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, and his brothers, Hassam Khan Khosa and Saifuddin Khan Khosa, about his decision.

They further said that Khosa wanted to contest the last general elections on a PPP ticket and had tried to convince his father in this regard, but his elder brothers opposed the idea and convinced their father to contest the polls on a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) ticket.

Mr Khosa, who contested the elections as an independent candidate from NA-191 and PP-289, secured 31,697 and 13,557 votes, respectively. PTI candidate Zartaj Gul won from NA-191 and independent candidate Hanif Pitafi, who later joined the PTI, had won from PP-289.

Zulfiqar Khosa, who contested the election on a PTI ticket, lost NA-190 a day after he was mistakenly declared victorious. Independent candidate Muhammad Amjad Farooq Khosa won the seat with 72,189 votes.

Dost Khosa was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2018