SUKKUR: Hectic political activity going on in Jacobabad for about a couple of months seems to have resulted in some sort of blow to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) as there are strong rumours that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has succeeded in wooing two allies of Federal Minister Mohammadmian Soomro.

Mir Tahir Khoso and Mir Jahangir Banglani had actively supported Mian Soomro in the previous general elections and played a key role in his victory.

PPP leader and Sindh Minister for Prisons Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, who is also the party’s Larkana division president, has been in touch with the two PTI leaders for quite some time. In recent days, he held detailed talks with them and finally got them to agree to join PPP.

Political circles and senior activists belonging to PPP’s Jacobabad chapter hinted that Mir Tahir Khoso and Mir Jahangir Banglani were offered chairmanship of the district council and Thull Municipal Committee, respectively when they would join PPP.

Last week, a meeting of the two leaders with Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani was held at Jakhrani House in Karachi to negotiate a deal, according to the sources. “The meeting lasted more than two hours and remained successful,” the sources said on Monday, adding that Mir Khoso and Mir Banglani had agreed to switch to PPP.

The sources confidently said that Mir Khoso would formally announce his decision within the next few days in the presence of the top PPP leadership in Karachi.

However, Mir Banglani would be joining PPP soon after Ramazan and would make such announcement in Thull, they said.

Meanwhile, local PTI leaders have also been in constant touch with Mian Soomro and other senior party colleagues with regard to the looming defection. It is learnt that Mian Soomro had a telephonic talk with Mr Tahir Khan Khoso to seek first-hand information. Some sort of negotiations between PTI and the Mirs are to follow in the next few weeks, the sources said.

Some other sources within PPP suggested that the question of getting the Thull Municipal Committee chairman’s seat vacated was still unanswered. At present, the seat is held by Barrister Zohaib Sarki, who is the son of Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Sarki and elder brother of PPP MPA Dr Sohrab Sarki. “It is not known whether the Sarkis have been taken in confidence while offering the municipal committee’s chairmanship to Mir Banglani,” a senior PPP activist in Jacobabad said.

However, most other activists believed that it would not be a big deal for the top PPP leadership in the given situation.

Mir Khoso had contested for PS-2 Thull constituency on a PTI ticket against PPP’s Dr Sohrab Sarki. Over the last couple of months, Mir Fahad Khan Jakhrani and Khair Bux Khoso of PPP had been trying hard to convince Mir Khoso and Mir Banglani to join PPP.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2020