LAHORE: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is planning to reach out to the party workers and office-bearers as a part of his mass contact drive in the provinces other than Punjab.

He is likely to choose Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the first province for the purpose where his arch rival Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leads a coalition government.

A close aide to the disqualified PM told Dawn that Mr Sharif would visit Mansehra district to mobilise the PML-N supporters and meet the local party leadership.

The PML-N holds sway in Mansehra and adjoining Hindko speaking Hazara areas.

The aide said the Mansehra visit was most likely to be undertaken before Eidul Azha to keep up the momentum generated by the GT Road’s homecoming rally.

After Eid, he added, the former prime minister was planning to tour Balochistan and Sindh as well as south Punjab.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2017