ISLAMABAD - The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to increase its political activities in Sindh, the power base of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). 

Secretary-General PTI Aamer Mehmood Kiani Saturday embarked on a five-day visit to the Sindh to mobilize the party workers and re-organize the party.  

“PTI thinks that there is a need to focus more on the province,” an office bearer of the party’s central secretariat said. 

The decision of the ruling party came at a time when PPP has shown serious concerns over the statement of Attorney-General of Pakistan Khalid Javed Khan that the government was considering different legal and constitutional options to fix different worsening issues of Karachi, the capital of Sindh. 

In July last, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to launch a cleanup operation in Karachi after the rains wreaked havoc in the city. The direction apparently put a question mark on the performance of the PPP-led Sindh government. 

PTI believes that there is enough room for the party in the province that is being ruled by the PPP for decades and they have decided to mobilize the party workers there, the office bearer said. This is because the province is facing severe governance issues and the recent rains in Karachi have also exposed the performance of the provincial government, he added. 

Background interviews with some key PTI leaders indicate that the ruling party understands that it not only has to retain its vote bank in Karachi but also to make its inroads into interior Sindh. The leadership of PTI is of the view that the people of Karachi where PTI had won considerable number of provincial and National Assembly seats should not be left alone in the wake of severe civic and other issues they are facing.  

The secretary–general PTI would make his first stopover in Sukkur, the third largest city of Sindh with having larger vote bank of PPP. He will have a meeting with the party office bearers there and also participate in a dinner arranged by the party, according to the schedule finalized by the central secretariat. Kiani will also chair an important meeting of the core group of the party in Sukkur, according to the schedule. 

On August 16, the secretary-general will reach Larkana, the home district of the Bhutto family, and will meet with the party’s regional office bearers followed by a press conference there. He will also chair an important meeting of the officer bearers at the Insaf House in Larkana. 

He will make his third stay in Hyderabad, the second largest city of Sindh, and also hold a meeting with the local office bearers of the party. He will hold another meeting with the party office bearers of district Mirpur Khas at Insaf House in Hyderabad. 

On August 17, the secretary-general will reach Karachi where he will inaugurate a plantation drive at party’s Insaf House. He will hold separate meetings with the party leadership of metropolitan city, the office bearers of all districts of Karachi and a delegation of Insaf Lawyers Forum there. 

On August 18, Kiani will hold a meeting with party members of Sindh and national assemblies at Governor House. On August 19, he will also hold different political meetings there.