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LAHORE, Nov 26 (APP):Punjab Minister for Information and Culture Azma Bokhari has said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has witnessed a major surge in its vote bank, rising from around 20,000 votes in the general election to over 100,000 in the recent by-elections.
She said the results clearly showed that the public had rejected the politics of “music and dance parties” in favour of welfare-driven initiatives such as electric buses, free scholarships, the ‘Apni Chhat Apna Ghar’ programme, and the Kissan Card.
Addressing a press conference at the DGPR, she said Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Suhail Afridi was “fearful” of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s development agenda, and that this anxiety had intensified after the PML-N’s by-poll victories. She added that Maryam Nawaz had put Punjab back on a stable and progressive path after inheriting a province left in disarray by the previous administration. “Whenever good news comes for the public, it becomes a dark day for the opposition,” she remarked.
Azma Bokhari said voters across 13 constituencies in Punjab had once again rejected the politics of abuse, hatred and chaos, choosing instead service delivery and performance. She said the Chief Minister’s transparent governance model, self-imposed performance indicators and more than 90 ongoing development projects reflected a government committed to results rather than rhetoric.
She added that the public had recognised and appreciated every initiative delivering direct relief, including free hospitals, the Kissan Card, Himmat Card, Dhi Rani Programme, WASA reforms and development projects in Lahore and Gujrat. She criticised Suhail Afridi and others who, she said, had promoted “disruption and propaganda” and were now facing the consequences. She noted that over 420 PTI leaders and lawyers, along with more than 190 family members, had met the PTI founder in jail.
Responding to a question, she clarified that the Punjab chief minister exercised no interference in jail or administrative matters, which remained fully under the authority of the prison administration.
Azma said the public had clearly voted for service-oriented politics rather than insults, sedition or disruption. She said citizens had endorsed initiatives such as Saaf Punjab, laptops, electric buses, electric bikes, free medicines and mobile clinics. Even in Haripur, she noted, the PTI failed to secure a win despite being the ruling party in the province, as voters had chosen those “delivering tangible services.”
She accused the opposition of fixating solely on attacking the federal government and Lahore, saying their politics was centred on conflict and provocation — a reason, she added, why the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had “completely rejected them”.
Azma Bokhari stressed that all provinces should engage in healthy competition for development, noting that if Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz could complete more than 90 projects in just one-and-a-half years, other provinces should also be capable of comparable progress. She said the Chief Minister not only launches initiatives but also conducts a formal performance review every three months. “In her dictionary, there is no phrase ‘will do’; she simply gets the work done,” she remarked.
She contrasted this with previous administrations that governed for 10 to 15 years yet failed to deliver similar results. She added that the Chief Minister personally monitors development projects on a daily basis. The Nawaz Sharif Cardiac Centre in Sargodha will become fully operational by December 31, and more than 50,000 patients have already received OPD treatment there. She noted that citizens from other provinces also travel to Punjab for medical care because of the quality of its hospitals.
Azma said PTI candidates, including Hammad Azhar’s nephew and the party’s nominee in Haripur, campaigned vigorously but still could not win public support. The people of Punjab, she said, made it clear that they voted for development, not disorder. She added that PTI’s claims of being prevented from campaigning were baseless, as the government imposed no restrictions — the public simply rejected them.
She highlighted Punjab’s initiatives on air quality improvement and smog control, including the introduction of anti-smog guns, which have attracted international attention. The Philippine ambassador, she noted, praised Punjab’s environmental efforts and expressed interest in adopting similar strategies. She said propaganda against anti-smog guns ended after a marked improvement in air quality in Kahna following their use.
Azma Bokhari concluded that the people of Punjab had demonstrated their preference for laptops, scholarships, healthcare, education and development — not slings, scissors or hatred. She said the recent by-elections were a victory for development, stability and public service.