PML-N to form next govt in KP: Nawaz

PESHAWAR, Feb 04 (APP):Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif Sunday expressed optimism that his party would emerge victorious in the next general election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and launch an era of socio-economic development in the province.
Addressing a largely-attended public rally here, the PML-N chief said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan was expert in telling lies and hurling accusations, who had badly failed to initiate any development work in KP which he used to claim during his last election campaign.
The KP people had now got fed up with the hollow claims of PTI’s leadership and their massive presence in today’s meeting was a testament to that fact, besides showing support for the PMLN, he added.
He said Imran Khan could not digest the mega development projects launched by PML-N government, like power plants to overcome load-shedding and building a road network, besides elimination of terrorism, and out of his frustration started levelling baseless allegations against it.
Nawaz Sharif said the so-called PTI leader could not manage to produce even a single megawatt of electricity despite his party had been in government in KP for four and a half years. He used to claim for building 350 dams in the province, but none had been constructed, while education and health sectors in the KP were also in miserable condition.
“Where is the new Pakistan, where are the 350 dams, where are the schools and universities, where are the health and education sector reforms? “ he questioned.
The PML-N leader said the KP police had to send samples to the forensic laboratory in Lahore for testing as the province had no such modern facility. Had there been such facility in the province, the perpetrators of the grisly crimes like those of Kohat and Mardarn would have been traced and apprehended, he added.
He said it was ironic that the rapid bus service project was launched in Peshawar at the time when the PTI was breathing its last in the province, which reflected its leadership’s intentions and insincerity towards serving the KP people.
He said if the PML(N) formed the next government in the KP, the province would witness an era of progress and prosperity. Its people would have health cards and own houses, he added.
He paid tribute to the martyrs of Swat suicide attack. Some 11 army personnel, including a captain, embraced martyrdom and 13 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a sport area of the army camp.
He said they were heroes of Pakistan, who had laid their lives for the country’s integrity and sovereignty. “We salute them.”
Nawaz Sharif claimed that he was ousted from the prime minister’s office for no fault. He was not involved in any corruption or taking kickbacks, rather he was charged for not receiving salary from his own son, he added.
He said the court decision of his disqualification was erroneous, which had been rejected by the people.
Pointing to the huge crowd, he asked the people to vote for the PML-N in the next general election to enable his party to get amended laws which were hampering the pace of progress in the country. Had he not been disqualified, Pakistan would have become more sound economically, with youth having decent jobs, he added.
He said with the PML-N coming into power after the next general election, the country’s destiny would change with rule of justice. Every poor would have his own home, he added.
He said the PML-N had always served the people and fulfilled its pledges made with them. The party would bring KP at par with Punjab in terms of socio-economic development, he added.
Referring to the PTI-led government in KP, Nawaz Sharif said those ruling the province were only telling lies and levelling allegations. He (Imran Khan) misused the KP government’s helicopters for his personal use, besides committing embezzlement in the much hyped tree plantation drive, but even then he was declared “honest and righteous,” he added.
He said the PML-N’s federal government had introduced widely acclaimed health cards’ project in three provinces, including Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, where the poor people could now avail the best health facilities free of cost. But unfortunately, the project was not allowed to be introduced in the KP depriving the people of the facility, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz said Imran Khan had wasted his time ‘on a container’, instead of initiating any development project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per his 2013 election campaign promises.
She said today’s massive turn-up in the PML-N public meeting showed that the KP people had rejected the sit-in politics of Imran Khan.
She said the PTI government had failed to provide any healthcare facilities to the KP people as it had not initiated any project in that regard. “Most of the KP people face hardships and visit Punjab to avail healthcare facilities there ,” she added.
She questioned where were the killers of Asma Rani of Kohat, Asma of Mardan and Sharifa Bibi of Dera Ismail Khan. Where were the 350 dams promised by Imran Khan and where free education and healthcare facilities were available in KP, she asked.
She said Nawaz Sharif would construct metro bus service in Peshawar and bring change in the whole KP.
Maryam said the KP police were capable but Imran Khan had no capacity to manage its affairs like other government matters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Imran Khan was apt in telling lies and that of blame game instead of serving the masses, she alleged.
PML-N KP President Engr Amir Muqam criticized the ‘dharna politics’ of Imran Khan and said the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wanted prosperity and development in their province. Imran was not an honest person as he was befooling the poor people by raising mere hollow slogans, he alleged.
He said Imran had ignored the incidents of Kohat, Mardan and Dera Ismail Khan. The people in the three cities needed justice and Imran should provide them the same as his party was in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
During the meeting, PTI’s Member of KP Assembly from Swabi Babar Salim also joined the PML-N and expressed confidence in the leadership of former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif.