PML-N’s Peshawar power-show : Nawaz roars in PTI heartland, calls out Imran

• PML-N chief, heir-apparent say big turnout at political gathering proof of discontent of KP people

• PTI lawmaker deserts party to join Nawaz-led PML-N

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief and former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz on Sunday took a swing at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for ‘duping’ the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for the past four years.

The father-daughter duo passed these remarks during the PML-N power show here on Sunday as they expressed optimism that the PML-N would emerge victorious in the next general election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and will launch an era of socio-economic development in the province.

Addressing a largely-attended public rally here, he said that PTI chief Imran Khan was expert in telling lies and hurling accusations, who had badly failed to initiate any development work in KP.

He said that the KP people had now got fed up with the hollow claims of PTI’s leadership and their massive presence in the political gathering was a testament to that fact, besides showing support for the PML-N.

He claimed Imran Khan could not digest the mega development projects launched by the PML-N government, like power plants to overcome load-shedding and building a road network, besides the elimination of terrorism.

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 mocked Imran.

The PML-N chief 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 Mardan 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 victims of Swat suicide attack on Saturday in which at least 11 army personnel died and 13 others injured.

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 economically vibrant, with youth having decent jobs, he added.

He said the 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 took a jibe at Imran Khan, saying the PTI chief had wasted his time “on a container”, instead of initiating any development project in the province.

The massive turn-up in the PML-N public meeting showed that the KP people had rejected the sit-in politics of Imran Khan, she added.

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.

The PML-N’s provincial president, Amir Muqam, criticised the ‘dharna politics’ of Imran Khan and said the people of KP 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.

Minutes before Maryam Nawaz took the stage before the charged Peshawar crowd for the first time this year, a PTI lawmaker from Swabi, Babar Khan Saleem, announced that he was parting ways with the PTI and joining the PML-N.

Babar Saleem was elected to the PK-31 seat in the general elections of 2013.