ISLAMABAD   -  Influential and prominent political figure of Chakwal Sardar Ghulam Abbas has rejoined Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. He had parted ways with the party in 2018 openly criticising former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

At the time of his departure from PML-N, he had announced that he could not defend Nawaz Sharif during the election campaign due to his recent interview—the one in which Nawaz Sharif spoke on Mumbai attacks.

However, on Thursday evening, he rejoined the opposition party in a public gathering at Chakwal in presence of PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah and senior leader and MNA from Bahawalpur Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada. Sources said that Abbas had joined PML-N after his telephonic conversation with party leader Mian Nawaz Sharif in London.

Sardar Ghulam Abbas while talking to The Nation accepted that he was trapped by some ‘influential people’ in 2018 and his decision to leave the party was not ‘well conceived’.

“I am more than happy on joining PML-N again and I don’t have any hesitation to accept that my earlier decision to leave the party was not correct”, he added.   Without naming anybody, he said those who forced me to leave the PML-N through their repeated requests did not honour their commitments.   People close to development consider Sardar Ghulam Abbas’s arrival back in the party as a result of a vacuum in the ranks of PML-N at district level.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PML-N in last elections could not win even a single seat of the national as well as provincial assembly from the district. At present, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Dullah of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf and Chaudhry Salik Hussain of Pakistan Muslim League-Q are the members of National Assembly while members of the provincial assembly Hafiz Ammar Yasir and Tanveer Aslam Malik are from PML-Q and Sardar Aftab Akbar and Yasir Humayun are from PTI.  

Sardar Ghulam Abbas is a deep-rooted politician and it was evident from the fact that his independent group emerged as strongest one in 2016 local bodies’ elections in the district and secured 20 out of 68 seats at the time when PML-N, besides having their governments in centre and Punjab could also secure only 20 seats.   Abbas shared power with PML-N in local government and joined the party but the elected members of the parliament of Chakwal remained uncomfortable with him during his stay in the party.

Later, he had joined PTI in May 2018 but his nomination papers were rejected on tax evasion and he was barred from participating elections. 

Interestingly, nomination papers of his nephew Sardar Aftab Akbar, who was his covering candidate on National Assembly seat, were rejected and he was also barred from taking part in elections but he was allowed to contest polls on provincial seat.  

People knowing the dimensions of local politics say that Sardar Ghulam Abbas could easily help defeating both Sardar Aftab Akbar and Yasir Humyaun Sarfraz by going against them but he remained neutral in elections.

Historically, Abbas was first elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1985. He was elected MPA in 1993 under the banner of the PPP and made a minister. When Pervez Musharraf founded the PML-Q, Abbas joined the party and was twice elected as the district nazim.