OKARA, April 20: An unpleasant situation arose in Wasawaywala when President Asif Ali Zardari cut short his visit after an address to PPP workers due to bad weather.

Those present in the meeting told Dawn the president moved towards the helipad after concluding his speech. The ministers, MNAs and MPAs present there rushed to bid him farewell but the president’s security staff blocked their movement by erecting a tent.

Qamaruz Zaman Kaira, federal minister for information, insisted on going behind the president. The security in-charge told him they could not allow any body to follow the president. When Kaira and others insisted on following the president, the security commander pointed his gun at them and removed the barrier only after the helicopter took off.

Earlier, the president’s helicopter landed at Manzoor Stadium near Haveli Wasawaywala at around 1:30pm. He was accompanied by Punjab Governor Khalid Latif Khan Khosa and Qamaruz Zaman Kaira.

They were offered a reception by federal ministers Manzoor Wattoo, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Syed Samsam Ali Bokhari, Rana Farooq Saeed Khan, Samina Ghurki, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Zamurd Khan, MNAs Chaudhry Sajjadul Hasan, Rai Ghulam Mujtaba Kharal, Mian Khurram Jahangir Wattoo, Ghulam Fareed Kathia, MPA and Okara PPP President Ashraf Khan Sohna.

The president inaugurated wheat harvesting. Then he and his 85 aides had a lunch prepared by a five-star hotel of Lahore.

Security was so strict that once an invitee entered the meeting site, he was not allowed to leave.

Speaking on the occasion, the president promised to solve the problems of military farm tenants. He also promised solar tubewells for Depalpur.

He assigned Manzoor Wattoo a mission to lure important political personalities to the PPP and evolve a strategy to ensure the next five-year rule for the PPP in Punjab.

In his address, Wattoo criticised former federal minister Babar Awan without mentioning his name. During this criticism, the president whispered something to Khosa and the two then burst into a loud laughter.