Karachi, March 13,2026: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nehal Hashmi took oath as the Governor of Sindh on Friday, succeeding Kamran Khan Tessori of the MQM-P.
The oath-taking ceremony was conducted by Sindh High Court Chief Justice Zafar Ahmed Rajput at the Governor House in Karachi. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar, and other provincial ministers attended the ceremony.
Bashir Memon, PML-N Sindh president, along with other party leaders and workers, were also present to witness the event.
Hashmi assumed office a day after President Asif Ali Zardari approved his appointment on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The prime minister had forwarded a summary recommending Hashmi for the position, and met him in Islamabad to offer congratulations ahead of the oath-taking.
Sources said outgoing Governor Tessori left for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah and plans to remain there for a few days. An MQM-P spokesperson said the party had not been consulted on the decision and would determine its next steps after internal discussions.
A native of Karachi’s Malir, Hashmi has been associated with PML-N for several years. He served as adviser on law and justice to former PM Nawaz Sharif from 1997 to 1999, was president of the party’s Karachi chapter in 2012, and later became general secretary of PML-N Sindh in 2014.
Hashmi was elected to the Senate on a PML-N seat from Punjab in 2015. His party membership was suspended in 2017 and later restored in 2021. A lawyer by profession, he is considered an active party worker and a senior PML-N leader in Sindh.
