ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the core committee of the ruling Pakistan People's Party expressed concern on Monday over the unexpected loss of a Senate seat in Punjab and formed a committee to investigate the matter.

The committee headed by MNA Faryal Talpur will present its report to the President within 24 hours.

The meeting at the Presidency was jointly presided over by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.

“The issue of loss of one seat from Punjab was discussed in the meeting and it was decided that people responsible for the setback would be taken to task,” PPP leader Fauzia Wahab told Dawn.

It is learnt that President Zardari was of the view that some members of the provincial assembly had defied the party leadership in Senate polls.

It was due to the support of certain PPP MPAs that Mohsin Leghari, an MPA of the Pakistan Muslim League (forward bloc), got elected despite the limited strength of his party in the Punjab Assembly, defeating PPP candidate Aslam Gill.

PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira said the party had given a mandate to the president to announce names of the chairman and the deputy chairman of Senate in consultation with coalition partners.

The President's spokesman, Mr Farhatullah Babar, said the meeting congratulated the party's Co-Chairman, President Asif Ali Zardari, and other leaders on the PPP emerging as the largest party in Senate.

Federal Minister for Water and Power Naveed Qamar briefed the meeting on the energy situation in the country. The meeting said that loadshedding was a serious issue creating hardship for the people and called for stepping up efforts to overcome the chronic energy shortage.

Interior Minister Rahman Malik briefed the meeting on the overall law and order situation, with particular reference to the situation in Balochistan and attack on buses in Kohistan and killing of passengers.