Senate polls: PM Imran Khan to visit Sindh next month to challenge PPP on home turf

• PM to announce mega-development projects for Sindh 
• PM will be visiting at the invitation of PTI's Liaquat Jatoi
• PM Imran Khan to also meet PTI’s coalition partners to forge strategy to win maximum Senate seats from Sindh

KARACHI: As the Opposition ups the ante against the federal government, the PTI has planned Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Sindh in the next month to strengthen the alliance with coalition partners ahead of the Senate polls.

During the visit, PM Imran is expected to announce mega-development projects and criticise the PPP government for its performance in the province.

Sources within the PTI’s Sindh chapter told The News that the PM, during the visit of rural parts of the province will announce mega-development projects and meet leaders of the PTI’s coalition partners, MQM-Pakistan and Grand Democratic Alliance, to forge a strategy to win maximum seats of Senate from Sindh.

The visit came on the invitation of the PTI leader and former chief minister Liaquat Jatoi who met Iman Khan on Friday in Islamabad to discuss the political situation of the province.

Read more: Asad Umar eyes PTI rule, end of Zardari-era in Sindh

Similarly, Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi has also hosted a reception a few weeks ago for PTI’s runner-up candidates against the PPP in various constituencies of Sindh.

The PTI leaders say it was part of the strategy to counter the PPP in its strongholds.

Mahmood Maulvi, a PTI Sindh leader and adviser to the ministry of maritime affairs, confirmed that the PM has accepted an invitation by the PTI Sindh chapter to visit the province next month.

“In his Sindh visit, PM Khan will announce an economic package of more than Rs400 billion for the region,” said Maulvi. “Sindh has been mired in problems for several decades and it is the responsibility of the PTI to assist [Sindhis].”

Read more: PTI says will take Sindh government to NAB

Criticising the PPP, the PTI leader said the ruling party in the province had pushed the region back to the stone ages.

“The people of Sindh have been deprived of health and education and the malnutrition crisis is worsening,” said Maulvi.

He said the PTI government would improve the standard of living by taking practical measures. “The prime minister desires to see equal economic development in all regions of the country. Therefore, the prime minister will visit Sindh next month to announce a development package which will usher in economic prosperity in the region.”