LAHORE, May 17: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has sped up its efforts to attract more and more Sindhi politicians to the party and has formed a coordination committee to do the needful.

Constituted by party chief Nawaz Sharif, the committee is headed by former Sindh chief minister Liaquat Jatoi.

According to a PML-N declaration, Amir Bux Bhutto, Irfanullah Marwat, Dr Bahadur Dahri, Ismail Rahu, Imdad Chandio, Marvi Memon, Saleem Zia and Raja Ansari are members of the committee which will contact/coordinate with political figures from Sindh to facilitate their joining the party.

The need for introducing Jatoi (who himself has recently joined the party) instead of Sindh chapter chief Ghaus Ali Shah, was felt when certain leaders who had promised to join the PML-N earlier were either reluctant to join or were going towards the PPP, an official said.

He claimed that Saleem Jan Mazari had earlier shown his inclination towards the PML-N but later joined the PPP, while former district nazim Shaukat Shah, who had planned a public meeting to join the N League in the presence of Nawaz, had now refused to do so.

Sources said the Sherazis of Thatha, who have always been anti-PPP, have been approached by Faryal Talpur, the sister of President Asif Zardari, while the Mehr brothers of Ghotki have reportedly set some conditions to join the PPP.

Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, the son of former caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, is also being persuaded to merge his National People’s Party into the PPP in return for a ‘big’ role in the provincial politics, they claimed.A PML-N official quoted Ghaus Ali Shah as telling Nawaz that these people were afraid of victimisation at the hands of the PPP government so they would show their loyalties for the N League at the election time when a neutral set-up would be in place in the country.

He claimed that big public meetings of Nawaz in the ‘settlers’ areas of Sindh are giving the PPP leadership sleepless nights.