FAISALABAD, Dec 14: The provincial leadership of the Pakistan Peoples Party has so far taken no measures to end differences among local leaders.

The PPP is fast losing its popularity in the district owing to disparity among local leaders.

Local PPP workers are looking up to the new provincial leadership to play its role in ending differences among leaders.

Newly appointed PPP president Shah Mehmood Qureshi and secretary-general Rana Aftab Ahmad have not yet initiated talks with the local groups to end differences among them.

The PPP has a strong position in the district with nine MPAs and one MNA Dr Nisar Ahmed, who later joined the Pakistan Peoples Party Patriot.

Differences among local groups have cost the party heavily in local elections as it failed to win even a single slot of town nazim and naib nazim.

Local PPP heavyweight Zafar Nagra lost Lyallpur Town nazim’s slot for lack of party support.

The Dars, who are believed to be close associates of Benazir, have also developed differences among themselves. Kamran Dar and his father Nayyar Dar have parted ways with city president Mahmoodul Hassan Dar. Both the groups have separate offices in the same place.

Former provincial health minister Badaruddin Chaudhry and MPA Raja Riaz Ahmed do not stand with each other and have traded corruption allegations on a number of occasions.

Leaders of both the groups have been asked time and again to shun differences for the sake of party, but to no avail.

The group led by Chaudhry Badruddin stayed away from the gathering held on the foundation of the party. It, however, welcomed the party leadership on Sargodha Road.

Whenever workers arrange a function, members of both the groups do not attend.

Sources claim that happenings in the past reveal that the central and provincial leadership back both the groups as Hanni Khan group has also burned effigies of former Punjab president Qasim Zia in the district.

When contacted, Chaudhry Badaruddin admitted having differences with Raja Riaz and other members of his group, saying they had vested interests and were not working for the party cause. He said that the government had not released development funds to opposition MPAs while PPP MPA Raja Riaz was getting funds for his constituency.

He claimed that elders of Raja Riaz had a hand in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s hanging.

Naheed Khan along with few central party leaders visited Faisalabad the other day and held talks with the group led by Chaudhry Badruddin. During the meeting, she said that the party had asked the new Punjab leadership to remove differences among local leaders.

Party’s city president Mahmoodul Hassan Dar claimed differences among local leaders would be removed soon as it was necessary to strengthen the party to pay way for the return of Benazir Bhutto.

MPA Raja Riaz did not respond when called repeatedly on his cell phone by this correspondent.