Provincial president PPP-Parliamentarian NWFP Rahimdad Khan on Sunday claimed that the party has started regaining support and getting popular in the province and the result of the first and second phase of the local bodies polls prove his contentions in this regard.
Addressing a press conference here at Peshawar Press Club (PPC) Khan said that despite long exile of Chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, her long imprisonment of her spouse Asif Ali Zardari and worst kind of political victimisation, the response of the towards the party in the province was remarkable.
He said that at the time of his assuming the office of the provincial chief there was acute lack of co-ordination among many wings and tiers of the party in the province and particularly there was no co-ordination even between the provincial cabinet and parliamentary party.
The PPP leader said that in a very short time we had reorganised party in the province and have proved it through holding a successful rally on the occasion of the Black Day last year on July 5. Similarly, he said that thousands of PPP activists were anxious to join people from different parts of the country to welcome Asif Ali Zardari on April 16. However, he said that they were restrained at different entry points to Punjab. But, they resisted and blocked roads for more than three hours.
He claimed that with the co-operation of the party workers PPP had emerged as the largest political party in the local bodies polls. Starting from district Tank, he said that out of 17 union council the party has won 5 seats D.I. Khan 13, while in Dir Lower it is the largest group and Upper Dir it is equal to Jamaat-e-Islam. He said that the position of the party in Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Malakand is strong while in Chitral its 13 panels of Nazims and Naib Nazims have been returned successful and get footing in districts Kohistan and Mansehra where it has won 12 and 8 union councils respectively.
Rahimdad Khan informed that the party has now prepared a new strategy to manage the party on scientific lines. For this purpose, he said that the provincial cabinet would remain in contact with district office bearers through e-mail and fax. It would also establish database of PPP and its other wings, documentary history of committed workers and their sacrifices for the party and would enhance women participation in the decision-making at the party level.
He disclosed that they are also establishing a new fund raising mechanism for the party and would activate various party wings like People's Youth, People's Students Federation, Lawyers Forum, labour wing, women wing and doctors forum to utilise their services to offer social and legal services to local communities. "The start would be made from schools for out of schools children," he added.
For promotion of recreational activities in the province through arranging various sports events under the name of Bhutto Cup, Benazir Cup and People's Cup.
The social and legal services would be launched in co-operation with National Research and Development Foundation (NRDF), whose chief co-ordinator Tahseenullah Khan was also present in the press conference.