BADIN: PPP-Parliamentarians President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to step down following the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe his assets and his business dealings of his sons abroad. While addressing a political gathering in Badin district, Zardari insisted that the incumbent PML-N leadership was responsible for the ongoing political mess in the country, adding that his party would continue to demand the premier’s resignation until he stepped down or was removed from power. The former president, who was addressing a rally in Rahuki village, claimed that Nawaz Sharif was not aware of the issues faced by people in the rural areas of Pakistan since he was more focused on doling out CPEC contracts to his close friends. “He [Nawaz] is unable to understand the CPEC’s concept. He doesn’t know that it was aimed at ending deprivations of Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – to give ownership to deprived people so that the federation is not harmed.” Insisting that he was receiving large support from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the former president said that PPP would take complete control of the Senate from the ruling party before March 2018. “God willing, we will win the Senate and [later] the National Assembly [in the next general election]. And then the rule will be restored to the poor people of Pakistan,” the PPP supremo said. Taking a jibe at Imran Khan, the former president said, “Nawaz Sharif hates [common] people. He dislikes these poor people and I don’t understand why. The bat [the election symbol of the PTI] also does not understand what the poor people want.” He claimed that only the PPP had its finger on the pulse of the populace.