LAHORE: Veteran Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khalid Ahmed Khan Kharal passed away in Lahore after a lengthy bout with illness, family sources revealed on Sunday.
Kharal—a close aide of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto—was suffering from an ailment of the lungs and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here.
His funeral prayers were offered in his hometown Kamalia, Toba Tek Singh.
To offer their condolences, political leaders, party workers and others began arriving at his residence in Shadman Colony.
The veteran politician served as the deputy commissioner of Larkana during Bhutto’s tenure. He was also imprisoned during Gen (retd) Ziaul Haq’s regime.
Afterwards, he joined the PPP and served as a minister in Benazir Bhutto’s cabinet in the 1990s.
It is crucial to mention here that he joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from Toba Tek Singh in December 2011; however, his association with PTI was short-lived, as in January this year, Kharal, along with his distant relative Faisal Saleh Hayat, decided to rejoin the PPP.
The decision of rejoining PPP was made after a meeting with party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
