LAHORE – PML-N President Muhammad Nawaz Sharif left for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday along with his family to perform Umra, leaving the resolution of the Khosas dispute to his aides.
The issue of former Punjab Governor Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa’s patch up with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his reacceptance of any political office under the latter have been left to party leaders, who in the meantime would continue their efforts to address Khosa’s grievances and remove misperceptions on both sides, sources in the party say.
They view that Nawaz Sharif does not want the issue to go out of hand since he wants the Khosas to remain in the party and work normally without any heart-burning or ill-will against anyone.
For patch up, Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa – who has a 28-year long affiliation with the PML-N – has set the condition that Nawaz Sharif must visit him and personally attend to his complaints, but the chances of this happening waned after his son Dost Muhammad Khosa criticised Shahbaz Sharif and the Punjab government.
The party leadership took serious exception to that tirade and the efforts to make Nawaz Sharif meet the senior Khosa died down, though party leaders are still trying to rectify things in an attempt to control further damage to the party.
Sources say as a mid-way solution, an idea is being floated to first invite Zulfiqar Khosa to meet Nawaz Sharif and then the latter would pay a return visit to him as a goodwill gesture. No final decision, however, has been taken in this regard and the matter is most likely to linger on until Nawaz Sharif’s return from abroad.
Dr Asif Kirmani, political secretary to Nawaz Sharif, told this scribe that no meeting between the PML-N president and the senior Khosa was scheduled before the former left for Saudi Arabia.
“Zulfiqar Khosa has a longstanding affiliation with the PML-N and he is still one of the  senior most leaders of the party. Efforts are underway to overcome the differences and things will hopefully be amicably resolved,” he added.
Dr Asif Kirmani, however, declined to comment when asked if any meeting between the senior Khosa and Nawaz Sharif was expected after the latter’s return from Saudi Arabia after Eid.