KARACHI: The opposition Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) suffered a major blow on Thursday when its senior leaders, belonging to influential Mahar family of Shikarpur, quit theparty and joined the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Former federal minister and MNA Ghous Bux Khan Mahar, his son MPA Shaharyar Khan Mahar and former district chairman Arif Mahar announced parting ways with the GDA during a meeting with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and PPP-Sindh president Nisar Ahmed Khuhro at their Karachi residence.

The elder Mahar is elected from NA-199 (Shikarpur-II) and his son Shaharyar elected from Sindh Assembly constituency (PS-8 Shikarpur II) from the platform of the anti-PPP alliance, the GDA, in the 2018 gen-eral elections.

The duo is being elected to the national and provincial assembly seats since 2002, first from the platform of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, then PML-Functional and then the electoral alliance GDA.

It is being considered as a big win by the PPP as it has managed to bring electables into its fold before the upcoming general elections.

According to a brief statement released by the PPP on Thursday evening, Mr Ghous Mahar said that he and his family decided to join the PPP and they had complete trust on party chairmanand Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Provincial PPP president Senator Khuhro welcomed the Mahar family into the partyfold, saying their decision to join the PPP before the general elections would further strengthen the party and brighten its prospects in the upcoming polls.

However, the statement is silent whether the elder and younger Mahar would resign from their respective assembly seats or wait until August when the national and provincial assemblies complete their fiveyear tenure.