Ex-Punjab governor Sarwar 'gravitating towards PPP'

With the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) beset by misfortunes, former Punjab governor Chaudhry Sarwar, who joined this party last year with hopes of not only carving out his own political career but also working things around his new party, is inching his way towards the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), sources said on Tuesday.

Sarwar, who had previously been part of PML-N and PTI, joined PML-Q in May last year when the party was reeling from the exodus of former Punjab chief minister Pervez Elahi along with all the party’s then MPAs from Punjab.During his time in PML-Q, Sarwar attempted to breathe new life into the party by recruiting leaders from various backgrounds, though none were particularly prominent.

Sarwar, given that he served two terms as governor and his own interest in constituency politics developed during his governorship, was anticipated to take a leading role in steering the party.However, this could never happen as decision-making control within PML-Q remained firmly in the hands of Chaudary Shujaat’s family.According to sources, it was this lack of his input in decision-making, that forced Sarwar to reconsider his political choices.

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The source revealed that Sarwar opposed aligning with the PDM, believing that distancing the party from PML-N would enhance its chances of winning over voters.Sarwar had conveyed to Shujaat and his sons that supporting the PDM government would hinder their chances of winning. However, the PML-Q chose stay in the government and enjoy their ministries.Sarwar recently held two meetings with PPP leadership. The first meeting took place earlier this week when PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited his house to offer condolences on the death of his brother Chaudhry Ramzan Pervez.

Sarwar held another meeting with PPPP President Asif Ali Zardari at Bilawal House Lahore on Tuesday.According to the information provided to the media, Sarwar had extended his support for Bilawal Bhutto for NA 127 elections.The source also disclosed that in the coming days, Sarwar would formally announce his decision to join PPP.He mentioned that the reason behind this was PML-Q had no scope of making any comeback, which meant that if Sarwar contests elections post-April, when the bar on him ends, he will get no advantage of being in that party.He stated the main reason is that PPP can provide Sarwar an opportunity to become a senator.