HYDERABAD, April 22: The Sindh United Party (SUP) and the recently-formed 10-party anti-PPP alliance suffered a setback ahead of the May 11 general election when SUP senior vice president Shah Mohammed Shah changed his loyalty to his party and announced rejoining the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) along with some of his friends.

He made the announcement at a big public meeting organised by PML-N for an address by its chief Nawaz Sharif in Tando Allahyar on Monday evening.

Mr Shah said he took the decision because he had been accused of working for the PML-N even after parting ways with his party. “So I will now work openly for (Mr Sharif),” he declared.

“My own party’s president Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah could not defend the unanimous nomination of mine before Pir Pagara for PS-43 of Matiari so I had to withdraw,” he later told Dawn over phone.

It is perhaps for a second time that Mr Shah, who worked with veteran nationalist leader G.M. Syed in his student life, has joined the PML-N, which he had quit in 2003 for reasons best known to him.

Mr Shah worked as president and general secretary of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) – formed after Musharraf ousted Nawaz Sharif — and then joined the PPP for a brief stint during which he also headed the PPP study circle. Before forming his own Save Sindh Movement, he remained a little inactive in politics.

He was instrumental in the formation of the Sindh Progressive Nationalist Alliance (SPNA) — an alliance of nationalist parties which included Sindh Taraqqi-pasand Party (STP), Sindh United Party, Sindh National Front, Awami Tehreek and Save Sindh Movement.

He then merged his SSM into SUP. Interestingly, it was Mr Shah who had brokered a seven-point electoral agreement with between the PML-N and SUP which was singed by Nawaz Sharif and Jalal Mehmood Shah in July last year in Karachi.

“It was me who had helped create SPNA. But SPNA could not deliver because of the ego factor in its leadership. Again it was me who had brokered a deal between SUP and PML-N; yet my (SUP) president could not defend my nomination before Pir Pagara though the nomination was unanimously announced in the 10-party alliance meeting,” he said.

Pir Pagara supported Nazir Rahu for PS-43 and Jalal Shah could not plead the case of his party’s senior vice president, he added.

Mr Shah said that he always advocated complete provincial autonomy and Mr Sharif supported the idea.

In a swift reaction, SUP information secretary Roshan Burirro disagreed with Mr Shah’s views and described his decision as ‘politically immature’.

“I admit that the decision about his nomination on PS-43 was a unanimous one at the alliance meeting and that’s why SUP president personally went to Pir Pagara to plead his case. Pir Pagara does not trust Shah Mohammad Shah as he had been hobnobbing with Makhdooms [of PPP] in Hala as well,” Mr Burirro claimed.

He said that even otherwise Mr Shah had always been comfortable with Nawaz Sharif. “How can a man who could not work with G.M. Syed be expected to work with his (Syed’s) grandson,” he argued.

He said that SUP has its own charge-sheet against him.

“Shah Mohammed Shah was head of the divisional election board of the alliance yet he could not take up the case of SUP candidates rather conceded ground to PML-N and that’s why nominations on several seats are a point of disagreement between SUP and other alliance members.

“Pir Pagara had clearly told SUP president that he would not support him. He had been changing parties with regular intervals as well and he always had a soft corner for the PML-N.” said Mr Burirro.

In an earlier setback suffered by the SUP and the 10-party alliance, STP chairman Dr Qadir Magsi opted to stay away from elections personally in the backdrop of a controversy involving him and Qaumi Awami Tehreek leader Ayaz Latif Palijo over the PS-47 seat. Dr Magsi did not file his nomination papers for any seat. However, STP allowed Dr Rajab Memon and Hyder Shahani to take part in the election.