LAHORE, Feb 25: The Pakistan People’s Party circles missed slain governor Salmaan Taseer on Friday after PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif announced parting ways with the PPP in Punjab. As his successor Latif Khosa is not as vocal as Taseer was, the PPP sources say Law Minister Babar Awan has been tasked with ‘targeting’ the PML-N, especially on the turncoats’ issue.

Since Khosa’s taking charge in the second week of last month, the Governor’s House has been in a low profile as far as PPP workers’ activities are concerned.

Khosa also claims that he is a ‘big promoter’ of his party’s reconciliation policy. Unlike his predecessor, he visited Sharifs at their Raiwind residence and termed Nawaz his elder brother.

The PPP circles believe that even if Mr Khosa tries to come hard on the PML-N from now on, it will be difficult for him because of his ‘temperament’. But on Friday he tried to prove otherwise. “Do not take our policy of reconciliation as our weakness. Jialas are good at dama dam mast qalandar”, he said while talking to a group of lawyers.

Another PPP leader was of the view that Mr Khosa would come up to the expectations of the workers. “Yes we do miss Taseer, but we hope Khosa will play his role according to the party policy,” Punjab PPP Secretary-General Samiullah Khan said.

Though the PPP has announced that it will continue its policy of reconciliation, on ground it has no such intention. Besides Babar Awan, its vocal legislators in the Punjab Assembly and party’s Punjab chapter will be on the forefront to give tough time to the PML-N at all forums. Apart from the provincial assembly, the PPP has plans to target turncoats.

“We want to make it clear that this time we will not indulge in politics of confrontation like that of 1990s. We will do politics of issues,” Samiullah Khan said. He said today the PPP workers were very comfortable and their jiala colour had returned. “The PML-N’s corruption which we could not expose earlier owing to be part of the coalition will be made public now.”

Khan also termed Nawaz ‘founder’ of turncoats’ politics. “Since Mr Sharif introduced this culture in politics, he is authorised to give new definition of turncoats.” He said the PPP would give ‘moral’ support to the PML-Q on the issue of turncoats. “Now the PML-N for the first time will face a strong opposition and face the music,” he warned.

Haider Zaman Qureshi, another PPP leader, said: “The PPP will now expose the PML-N’s bad governance and financial indiscipline. Shahbaz Sharif will remember the good old days of ‘smooth sailing’ when the PPP was part of his government,” he said, adding it would not be easy for the chief minister to keep the turncoats in his party fold without ‘awarding’ them ministries and other benefits.