The reason behind this fast emerging scenario include lack of interaction between the parliamentarians, ministers and leadership of the PPP with the diehard activists, who believe that the party has miserably failed to deliver after February 2008 elections.
According to queries put forth by this correspondent, PPP local leadership's failure to convene workers convention and general body meetings for the last four years, a widening gulf between the parliamentarians and senior workers, groupings within the party and favouritism by the party leadership has provided a golden opportunity to the parties hitherto little known in the district, to gain ground.
The MQM has become major beneficiary of the PPP's slackness and raised its membership to 20,000 in the coastal areas of Mirpur Sakro, Ghorabari, Keti Bandar and Jati.
Hundreds of others belonging to Brohi, Shaikh, Jokhio and Memon communities changed their loyalties and joined the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STP) during the recent visit of party's chairman Dr Qadir Magsi.
A considerable number of people of Sabra, Parheri, Gandhra, Pooricha, Khaskheli and Mirbahar communities announced joining PML-N at a public meting during former governor of Sindh Mamnoon Hussain's visit to Urs Gandhro village.
Political observers believe that the reasons behind PPP's nosedive is that after coming into power, its lawmakers and district office-bearers have disappointed hundreds of activists by creating “circles of their favourites who are engaged in multiplying their assets through contracts, sale of jobs, commissions, grabbing of plots and mineral resources as well as minting money through other tactics in connivance with the officials.”
The party's command here lies with the district president Arbab Wazir Memon. He was given this office with the consent of party's provincial chief Syed Qaim Ali Shah four years ago and considered to be in good books of the CM. He had contested on a National Assembly seat and lost to Syed Ayaz Shah Shirazi of PML-Q.
It is Arbab Wazir Memon's prime responsibility to sort out differences between party activists and parliamentarians but his priorities seem to be similar to those of the elected representatives, hence gulf between the ministers, office-bearers and the activists has widened with every passing day.
Recently the party's high ups had taken notice of the district leadership's act of avoiding to invite diehard activists, including Babu Ghulam Hussain, two sitting members of Sindh council Aijaz Ali Khwaja and Luqman Malkani and two senior workers Syed Iqbal Shah and Abdul Sattar Lohar and others in the party functions and the district president was asked to explain this discrimination.
The common man is critical of the claim that PPP is still thriving in the hearts and souls of people.
This correspondent interviewed district president of the People's Lawyers Forum Punhoon Akbar Uqaili, members of PPP Sindh Council Luqman Malkani and Abdul Wahid Parhiyar, workers Ghulam Ali Khwaja, Usman Baloch and others who alleged that the parliamentarians and district office-bearers were running the party affairs through their close relatives, including brothers and cousins, and by-passing party loyalists. Their attitude had created a sense of deprivation amongst the activists, they added.
Many of the activists had repeatedly registered their protests even during the meetings with the provincial head of the party Syed Qaim Ali Shah, they said.
Mr Uqaili said that sincere workers and office-bearers of the party had been ignored and were not invited in important party programmes because, those who were dominating the party, were afraid of party loyalists' protest.
Senior vice-president of PPP Thatta, Haroon Hullani, said that vested interests were dominating the party due to which its graph was declining.
However, PPP MNA Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro, MPA Sadiq Ali Memon and MPA Usman Jalbani, said that neither any party activists were quitting nor PPP was losing grounds to other partiers in the district.
They said the party membership campaign which began from Taluka Mirpur Bathoro would prove that the party's popularity was not declining.
They said the parliamentarians were united and there was no organisational issue, at all, in the district.
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