PESHAWAR, Dec 12: A group of dissident MPAs in the ruling religious alliance on Monday announced they had ended their differences and wound up the so-called forward bloc. The drama that had begun barely a week ago ended when the group of six MPAs, who had formed the forward bloc, voicing grievances ranging from development funds to complaints against key cabinet ministers, met Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani.

The group had been reluctant to meet Mr Durrani prompting the JUI-F leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman to intervene.

An official statement issued at the end of nearly three-hour meeting said the group had reiterated its allegiance to the MMA and denied having ever talked about toppling the government.

Insiders said the group which included mostly JUI-F MPAs, Maulana Muhammad Idrees, Khalid Waqar Chamkani, Rukhsana Naz’s husband Raz Muhammad, Jamaat-i-Islami MPA Javed Muhammad and Ibrahim Qasmi had demanded development funds and more schemes for their constituencies.

They also voiced their grievances against some ministers, including those who head the health, education, information and food departments.

The sources said the chief minister had promised to convene another meeting on Wednesday to look into their grievances regarding developmental schemes.

The chief minister assured the group that development schemes in their constituencies would be completed by June.

As regarding their complaints against ministers, the chief minister advised them to discuss the issue with Maulana Fazlur Rehman who would be visiting Peshawar to meet the group in a couple of days, the sources added.

Soon after the meeting, the chief minister told a group of reporters that the MMA was gaining strength and denied existence of any forward bloc in its ranks.

He said that grievances of some ruling alliance MPAs was an internal matter and had been amicably addressed.