LAHORE - At a time when PPP leadership is struggling to revive the party in Punjab, it no longer enjoys the support of influential political families from this province.

Many politicians have either left the PPP or have become indifferent since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007. Most of them have joined the PTI. Not only this, the party has also lost several of its diehard workers to this party. They left because they had numerous complaints against the new leadership.

Nahid Khan and Safdar Abbasi have formed their own party with the nomenclature of PPP (Workers).

A politician from Okara, Samsam Bukhari, formerly associated with the PPP and currently affiliated with the PTI, thinks that the list of defections from the PPP to PTI would have been much longer had Mr Khan not been selective in inducting ‘cleaner’ politicians.

Around 17 PPP MNAs from Punjab who left the party after 2002 elections never rejoined their parent party. They formed their own group, PPP (Patriots), when Benazir Bhutto, who was in exile at that time, refused to lend her party MNAs to General Musharraf to form a coalition government along with the PML-Q.

PPP felt this loss in 2008 general elections as only 44 of its candidates from Punjab made it to the National Assembly. Consequently, it had to make a coalition government in the Centre with the support of MQM, ANP, JUI-F and later the PML-Q whom it had branded 'Qatil League' just before the elections.

The results of 2013 elections from Punjab were even more disappointing for its new leader Asif Ali Zardari who served one full term as President from 2008 to 2013. It got only three National Assembly seats out of total 148 from this province and seven provincial seats.

The PPP had won over 100 Punjab Assembly seats in 2008 elections. Data collected by The Nation shows that over 60 of them have now left the party with most of them joining the PTI.

From Multan region, PPP lost potential winners like Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Mirza Nasir Baig, Moulana Hamid Saeed Kazmi,Noor Muhammad Bhaba, Malik Amir Dogar, Rana Ijaz Ahmad Noon, Ahmad Hussain Dehr, Malik Ishaq Bucha, Dr Akhtar Malik, Arshad Abbsas Raan, Sohail Noon, Mian Muhammad Shafique, Abbas Zafar Hiraj, Nishat Ahmad Khan Daha, Rana Babar Hussain, Muhammad Jamil Shah, Ch Iftikhar, Ch Fayyaz Ahmad Warriach and Malik Nosher Khan Langrial. All these have been elected to the National Assembly or the Punjab Assembly at least once or more than once.

The list of politicians leaving the PPP from Bahawalpur division is also very long. It includes Sahibzada Muhammad Gazain Abbasi, Munawar Hayat Abbasi, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada, an ex federal minister, Farooq-e-Azam Malik, Riaz Dar, Saith Shamsur Rehman, Sohail Ashraf Warriach, Rao Tariq, Azra Sheikh, Malik Habid Bullah Bhutta and Mian Ejaz Bhutta,

Important politicians leaving the party from DG Khan, Muzaffargarh and Layya districts include Jaffar Leghari, Sardar Athar Khan Gorchani, Amjad Dasti, Niaz Jhakkar and Iftikhar Ali.

From Jhang, it has lost seasoned politicians like Syeda Abida Hussain and Sahibzada Nazir Sultan. Dr Nadia Aziz and Rana Munawar Hussain left the PPP from Sargodha. Khalid Ahmad Khan Kharral, a long time associate of party founder Z.A Bhutto, has also left the party. He belongs to T.T Singh. 

Sahiwal and Okara region of Punjab also saw a number of politicians leaving the PPP in the post-Benazir period. Some of them like Muhammad Ashraf Khan Sohna have had a long association with the PPP. Samsam Bukhari, Zahid Iqbal and Javid Alauddin are other such names.

The industrial city of Faisalabad is also not without politicians who are no longer associated with the PPP. Raja Riaz, Dr Asad Moazzam Ejaz Virk and Haji Liaqat Ali are prominent among others.

From Lahore, once a stronghold of the PPP, Sajida Mir and Farooq Yousaf Ghurki, both former MPAs, left the party in the recent years. Committed party men like Mian Qasim Zia, Misbahur Rehman, Aslam Gill and Azizur Rehman Chan are no more active in the party. Munir Ahmad Khan is another name who left the party after facing isolation under the new leadership. 

Politicians like Sardar Assef Ahmad Ali and Sardar Muhammad Hussain Dogar have said good bye to the PPP from the adjoining Kasur district. Bashir Gujjar and Mushtaq Gujjar, two diehard party workers from Mureed K, are not available to the leadership now. 

PPP also suffered a big loss from Gujrawala, Hafizabad and Mandi Bahauddin. A significant number of electables like Ch Muhammad Tariq, Muhammad Arqam Khan, Qaisar Iqbal Sindhu, Ch Zulfikar Ali Bhinder, Rana Faisal and Abdullah Virk, Malik Fayyaz Ahmad Awan and Tariq Mahmood Sahi left the PPP in the last few years.  

Firdoous Aashiq Awan and Tahir Mehmood Hundil bade farewll to their leadership quite recently. They belong to Sialkot. Raja Tariq Kiani and Muhammad Shabbir Awan left the PPP from Rawalpindi while Malik Khurrum Ali Khan belongs to Attock district.