Bilawal to tour flood-hit south Punjab, Sukkur

After spending two days in Lahore, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached Multan on Sunday, where he is scheduled to visit flood-affected areas.

According to party officials, Bilawal arrived in Multan in the afternoon, accompanied by Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider, and was received by Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani.

On Monday (today), he will visit the Gillani Darma Tent City, before proceeding to Muzaffargarh to continue his visits with flood-affected communities. From Muzaffargarh, Bilawal is expected to travel by road to Sukkur, Sindh.

During his stay in Lahore earlier, senior PPP leaders, including Central Punjab President and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, former federal minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Information Secretary Nadeem Afzal Chan and General Secretary Hasan Murtaza, raised the issue of pending approvals for party reorganisation.

However, according to a source, the chairman gave no response.

The source further claimed that Bilawal was deliberately keeping the party's ranks and files "dysfunctional" by withholding reorganisation, sending a clear message to leaders to "lay low".

He added that, after Bilawal's conciliatory words for Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, party leaders in Punjab were left without anything workable in their armoury.

However, PPP General Secretary Hasan Murtaza offered a partial contradiction, maintaining that the chairman had only asked leaders to wait until after the floods, since party workers were currently engaged in relief activities.

"After the floods, we will call a provincial CEC meeting and, following its approval, forward the name to the chairman's office," he said.