KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) started talks to join hands against the Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Sindh government.

The opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly belonging to the MQM-P Ali Khurshidi and JI’s Parliamentary Leader MPA Muhammad Farooq held a meeting ahead of the provincial budget. Sources privy to the development said that both the leader discussed strategy for the upcoming budget session. Both parties ‘agreed’ to form a working relationship to ensure the welfare of the people of Sindh and to pressurise the Sindh government to prioritize their needs.

The opposition leader said that the Sindh government has failed to protect the youth of Karachi as street crimes are on the rise and the people are being gunned down for offering resistance to robbers. “The Sindh government has to be pressurised to complete the Safe City project which is essential for the establishment of peace and security in the province particularly Karachi,” the sources said while quoting the MQM-P and JI leaders. It is pertinent to mention here that this is the first official meeting between the two parties after a while as they remained arch-rivals in Karachi, criticising each other in the past. The last time MQM-P and JI held an meeting on a political matter, they discussed fresh delimitations in Karachi; however, the discussions ended up being “inconclusive.”