Dhobi Ghaat rally fails to dazzle opponents

The show of power put on by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Faisalabad has failed to impress political opponents, who accused the party of using the Punjab government’s resources. The party’s emerging archrival in Punjab, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), has challenged the PML-N to hold a successful rally at Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore. PTI Central Information Secretary, commenting on the PML-N’s Faisalabad rally, said Nawaz Sharif should abstain from using the government’s resources to display strength. He said the Faisalabad gathering was arranged with the help of Punjab government officials and an enormous use of official resources. He claimed that state machinery was used for the rally and government employees were present there. He said Nawaz was scared of the PTI and Imran Khan’s increasing popularity.
Cheema said the PML-N was accusing the PTI of being backed by the establishment, whereas the statement of General Asad Durrani was on record that Nawaz Sharif had taken Rs 3.5 million from the agencies for his party’s election campaign. In response to another allegation levelled by Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan that Imran Khan had a residence in Islamabad worth Rs 120 billion, Cheema announced that the PTI was willing to sell the property to the PML-N at just one percent of the value estimated by Nisar.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-Punjab General Secretary Samiullah Khan said the PML-N had made a futile attempt in Faisalabad. He said the party had lost its mandate in the province and its leadership, confused due to upcoming Senate elections, was criticising President Asif Ali Zardari at every possible place.
PPP leader Mian Ayub said Nawaz Sharif was forgetting his party’s performance in Punjab while criticising the federal government. “He should tell if the security situation is satisfactory in the province or if his party has succeeded in eliminating Patwari and Thana culture in Punjab,” he asked. He said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had not kept his promise to convert the CM’s House into an IT university.
Fawad Chaudhry, spokesman of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) led by General (r) Pervez Musharraf, also ridiculed the PML-N, saying the show presented by the Punjab government under the title of PML-N. He said Nawaz Sharif had otherwise lost his worth among the masses.
Chaudhry said Nawaz was attempting to involve Supreme Court in politics in order to create an impression that the court had some interest in Nawaz. He also denied the PML-N’s allegation that Musharraf gave Imran Khan some property in Islamabad, saying the former president had nothing to do with the PTI chief’s property. He said Nawaz was emboldened with Musharraf’s absence from Pakistan and was uttering “rubbish” against the former president, while from 2000 to 2007, none of PML-N leaders could dare speak a word against him. He added that Musharraf would return soon and give a “shut up call to all such outspoken leader”.
PML-Quaid Information Secretary Kamil Ali Agha said the unnerved leadership of the PML-N had held its public gatherings in a bid to overwhelm the PTI’s popularity wave. He said Nawaz Sharif and other party leaders had failed to attract the masses’ attention. Agha called the rally a “flopped show”. He said that by attempting to involve SC in politics, Nawaz was repeating his habit of getting assistance from non-political forces.
PML-Q Punjab Spokeman Akram Chaudhary said the Punjab government’s employees were behind the rally in Faisalabad. He further claimed that even the gardeners and ‘patwaris’ of the government were tasked to gathering people.