LAHORE: Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Saturday claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was on the verge of a split as a group of party leaders were all set to form their own faction of the party.
Addressing a press conference here, Sheikh Rasheed said, “PML-N II will soon be formed in Islamabad… I have already told you that Shehbaz Sharif is my man, however, it remains to be seen who will lead the defected group of the party — Shehbaz or Chaudhry Nisar.”
The minister also claimed that a few close associates of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari are ready to return ‘some of the looted wealth’ but Zardari himself is not in favour of doing so. “I also suggest Nawaz Sharif and his associates to follow Zardari’s footsteps and return back the money to get some relief,” he added.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, would never strike any NRO-like deal at any cost, the Awami Muslim League (AML) chief maintained.
Responding to a question, the minister said: “Despite receiving electric shock, you can see I am alright, but Indians want Sheikh Rasheed to die and their channels have made a big deal out of yesterday’s incident.”
On Friday, Rasheed received a jolt while holding a microphone during a rally organised to show solidarity with Kashmiris after New Delhi’s illegal and unilateral move of revoking the special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir which also spiked the tensions between the two nuclear-armed states.
To a question about the closure of air space for India, he said the prime minister, the cabinet and the foreign ministry would take a decision in that regard. “However, no train would operate between Pakistan and India as long as I am the railways minister,” he added.
