Bilawal – PPP’s answer to Khan’s Sindh advances

*PPP sources say Zardari has launched Bilawal in Punjab to counter PTI’s attempt to gain political ground in interior Sindh

*Say Bilawal will woo back party leaders who differ with PPP’s decision to support Sharif’s regime and make South Punjab a battlefield between PPP and PTI

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s visit to Punjab apparently to visit the flood-hit people of the province has been dubbed by many party leaders as PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s plan to counter the political advances of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) into interior Sindh, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The timing of Bilawal’s entry into Punjab, which was being sought by political observers for quite a while, is significant as several parts of South and Central Punjab have been hit by flashfloods and rains which have killed hundreds and rendered thousands homeless. The choice of Bilawal’s visit, however, was selective as he only visited some flood-hit areas of South Punjab, ignoring Central Punjab where PPP has been swept away by PTI’s tsunami in General Elections 2013. Bilawal also visited some areas of Jhang and Multan where the poor people accorded him a warm welcome.

Background interactions with PPP leaders have revealed that following PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s visit to interior Sindh and PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s plan to visit the province, PPP wants to engage PTI in Punjab.

A senior PPP leader requesting anonymity said that though Qureshi’s visit to Sindh was not significantly successful, the PPP leadership believes that the visit was a bid to test waters in the province, which is a traditional stronghold of the Bhutto family.

“Bilawal believes that Qureshi’s visit to Larkana is actually a declaration of a political assault against the Bhuttos. Qureshi managed to engage a large number of youth during his visit to several cities of Sindh and Khan may pull even bigger crowds,” said the PPP leader.

THE MQM CONNECTION:

The source said that Bilawal has directed PPP leaders not to respond to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Altaf Hussain’s opposition to Bilawal’s tweet against the formation of administrative units of Sindh.

“This is because PPP does not want to escalate tensions with MQM for the time being as we think this might unite PTI and MQM,” said the PPP stalwart, predicting that Khan’s Karachi visit will serve PPP’s purpose and the PTI chief’s remarks will “make MQM and PTI lock horns”.

“During his interaction with party leaders during a dinner-meeting held at Bilawal House on Thursday night, Bilawal told party leaders that he would formally visit Punjab in October. He pledged to keep visiting Punjab to make it a battlefield between PPP and PTI rather than allowing PTI to launch a battle in interior Sindh,” said the source.

Bilawal also said that after kicking off the campaign in Punjab, he would personally take up pending matters pertaining to re-organisation of the party.

Stating that October would be an important month for the government in wake of the protest sit-ins in Islamabad, the source added that the month would be highly significant for PPP too.

“Keeping in view PTI’s political advances, I think that there is no other option for Zardari but to launch Bilawal now. It is a now or never situation for the PPP as Khan has already captured a lot of political space,” he said. Bilawal also plans to visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but security concerns are hampering the plan, he added.

BILAWAL BACKS NAWAZ, PPP WORKERS CHANT GO NAWAZ GO:

Another PPP leader said that Bilawal told the party leaders that he would like to support Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as his mother had signed a Charter of Democracy with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader.

However, Bilawal’s wish to support Nawaz suffered a jolt on Friday when during his visit to flood victims at Mohammadwala headworks in Multan, workers chanted “Go Nawaz Go”, a slogan raised by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and PTI

The source added that Bilawal’s commitment to back the Nawaz regime disappointed many PPP leaders from Punjab who wanted him to raise his voice against the present regime which is “corrupt and losing popularity”.

“But Bilawal must have realised the ground situation when he saw PPP workers raising anti-Nawaz slogans,” the source said.

“Bilawal plans to woo back old party workers who are unhappy with the party’s policies,” said the source, adding that many PPP leaders and workers in Punjab, KP and Balochistan are unhappy with the party’s policy of supporting Sharif.

When contacted, PPP’s South Punjab Senior Vice President Haider Zaman Qureshi said that Bilawal had promised the party leaders that he would visit Punjab in October but said that it would not be wise to term the visit as a political move to counter PTI’s advance into interior Sindh.