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LAHORE: Just a day before (Thursday) Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s visit to Shahdara, the veil of camaraderie was lifted exposing fissure in the relationship between ‘two tiers’ of the Pakistan People’s Party.
The PPP Punjab and Lahore chapter office-bearers assembled at the Governor’s House to finalise arrangements for giving a reception to the prime minister. The premier is scheduled to address a public meeting in Shahdara on Friday (today).
A verbal sparring broke out when PPP Secretary-General Jehangir Badr inquired about the absence of the party’s Punjab and Lahore chapters’ presidents, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich and Federal Minister Samina Ghurki, respectively, provincial secretary-general Samiullah Khan and Asif Hashmi.
Mr Hashmi, chairman of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, has invited the prime minister to his constituency (Shahdara) to announce abolition of the Ravi Bridge toll.
“I have come all the way from Islamabad to Lahore to review the arrangements but absence of office-bearers show how much we are serious about the public meeting,” a source (present in the meeting) quoted Badr as having said.
Badr said the public meeting was being held in the constituency of Mr Hashmi whose absence was strange. He then turned to the participants, alleging they too were not serious in making the party shows successful.
PPP Punjab finance secretary Aurangzeb Burki rose to his seat and informed the participants about his ‘recent’ contributions to the party. Badr asked Burki to sit down but the latter refused and continued: “We have listened enough during the last four years and now the saturation point has come.”
Following in the footsteps of Burki, other office-bearers including Dr Hasnat, Asif Nagra, Haji Ijaz, Munir Dagran and Arif Kashmiri also took exception to Badr’s remarks.
They were of the view that they, ‘the diehard workers’, strive to gather people at public meetings whereas some of their colleagues only come with drivers and occupy the stage.
They also asked Badr what he had done for the party and the workers during the last four years. Badr responded that he had the party office which was not enough to redress grievances of the workers.
PPP Women Wing Lahore president MPA Faiza Malik also criticised Ms Ghurki for not taking it (women wing) onboard in party matters. “When such an occasion comes, they expect us to bring a good number of workers to the venue,” Ms Malik was quoted as having said.
Another office-bearer accused Mr Hashmi of playing double game. “If the PM show goes well Mr Hashmi will take the credit otherwise he will smartly pass the buck on others complaining about rift in the party ranks.”
Governor Latif Khosa, who was presiding over the meeting, preferred silence and let the office-bearers do the catharsis. Besides main office-bearers, a few party ticket-holders attended the meeting.
