LAHORE: Senior politician and former adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Nadeem Afzal Chan, along with some other key political figures from Central Punjab will rejoin Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after meeting PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari when his caravan (Awami March) will reach Lahore on Sunday, Bol News has learnt.
According to sources, Bilawal is invited on breakfast at Chan’s residence in Johar Town, Lahore.
It is pertinent to mention that Chan started his political career as Tehsil Nazim Malakwal in 2001. Chan’s clan, the Gondals, had been with the PPP through thick and thin since the time of party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but they left the party in 2018. Four members of the family made it to the national and provincial assemblies in the 2008 elections.
His uncles Nazar Gondal and Zulfiqar Gondal were elected MNA and MPA respectively while Chan was elected an MNA and his younger brother Waseem Afzal Chan was elected MPA.
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“Chan used to be a backbencher in the PPP cadre but the party’s mainstream politicians began noticing him when he started loyally defending the party on TV talk shows. Chan was honest in his criticism of the wrongdoings of party leaders as well,” a senior PPP leader from Central Punjab told Bol News while adding that Chan’s time came when the party chose him for the Senate election in Punjab in 2014.
“His candid way of speaking, clean credentials and down-to-earth demeanour earned him respect, not only in the PPP ranks but also with disgruntled PML-N MPAs who also voted for him in the elections,” the PPP leader concluded.
According to a party source, Chan had been allotted a room in Bilawal House, Lahore since 2015 and was once considered close to both Bilawal and Zardari and he also used to enjoy the support of hardcore jiyalas at the grassroots level before he left the party in April 2018.
He had also served as PPP Central Punjab Secretary General from November 2016 till October 2017.
In April 2018, he joined PTI and contested the 2018 general elections on PTI’s ticket from NA-88 (Sargodha -I) but remained unsuccessful following which on January 15, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan appointed Chan as his spokesperson and on the very same day, Chan was also appointed as Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Imran Khan on Parliamentary Coordination. In January 2021, he resigned from the office of spokesperson to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Special Assistant to Prime Minister and his resignation was accepted by the premier on January 15, 2021.
Chan’s brother Gulraiz Afzal Chan is currently the member of the Punjab assembly on PTI’s ticket.
“It would be a huge blow to PTI in Central Punjab as Chan is one of the frontline leaders,” sources from PTI told Bol News.
