LAHORE, Oct 18: The Pakistan People’s Party has decided in principle to table the draft of new constitutional amendment to create one or two new provinces in Punjab first in Senate where it has a majority.

“Once the parliamentary commission tasked to suggest ways to carve out one or two provinces in Punjab gives its recommendations, we will table the proposed draft of amendment to the Constitution under article 239 (4) in the Senate first as we have majority there,” Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa says, adding the PML-N will be fully exposed if it does not support it.

Talking to Dawn here on Thursday, the governor said some 15 districts of south Punjab had 48 national and 112 provincial assembly seats.

“We are confident to bag the most in case the PML-N opposes the move to give new province(s) to the people of the south. The Sharifs’ party will be completely wiped out,” he said.

He said as the PML-N had clearly shown its intention by not proposing two names from the Punjab Assembly for the commission and also stopped its other members from attending its proceedings, it was very much likely that it would oppose the proposed amendment the PPP and its allies were going to bring forth for the creation of one or two provinces.

“Hurdles the PML-N is creating in the creation of south Punjab province is certainly going to cost it dearly in the coming elections,” he said.

Some 40 million people of the south, he said, would not forgive the PML-N for blocking the move to give them their rights in the form of a new province. “Even the central Punjab will benefit from the creation of a couple of new provinces in the south,” he said.

Two-thirds majority is required for the passage of any amendment to the Constitution. President Zardari’s spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar is the head of the parliamentary commission.

As far as the PPP’s strategy in central Punjab is concerned, Khosa said: “The PPP has 40 per cent vote bank in almost every constituency in central Punjab and with the help of its ally (PML-Q) and Tehrik-i-Insaaf’s vote-divide factor, the PPP and its ally have a good chance to perform well in the central Punjab,” he said.

The governor also said the PPP would be strengthened in Punjab after Federal Minister Mian Manzoor Wattoo and Tanvir Ashraf Kaira’s appointment as president and secretary-general of the party’s provincial chapter.

Wattoo is likely to replace Federal Minister Khurshid Shah in the PPP’s team negotiating with the PML-Q leadership over the seat-adjustment formula in Punjab.

The governor said the PML-N through ‘fake’ surveys was trying to hoodwink the people that it would sweep the next elections in Punjab. He said PPP’s popularity graph could be assessed from the results of the by-polls as it had won a majority of seats.