Maryam Nawaz hits out at PPP as PML-N launches AJK election campaign

• CM Maryam unveils Punjab-style uplift vision for AJK, targets PPP as Nawaz vows region’s transformation

• Punjab CM promises electric buses, mobile hospitals and expanded welfare schemes if PML-N wins July 27 polls

• Questions PPP’s governance record in AJK, urges voters to compare parties’ performance

• Nawaz says Kashmir is as dear to him as Punjab, pledges roads, healthcare and modern infrastructure

• PML-N launches high-profile AJK campaign with promises to replicate Punjab’s development model

 MUZAFFARABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday unveiled a Punjab-style development package for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), promising electric buses, mobile hospitals, expanded welfare programmes and improved infrastructure if the PML-N wins the July 27 Legislative Assembly elections, while launching a sharp criticism of coalition partner Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) over its governance record in the region.

Addressing the same rally, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif described Kashmir as being as dear to him as Punjab, calling it his second home and pledging to extend Punjab’s development model across AJK.

میں صرف وعدے کرنے نہیں آئی، میں اپنی دو سالہ کارکردگی لے کر آپ کے سامنے آئی ہوں۔ کشمیر کی مائیں، بہنیں، بزرگ اور نوجوان سن لیں، ہم صرف ووٹ مانگنے نہیں آئے۔ اگر آپ نے مسلم لیگ (ن) کو منتخب کیا تو نواز شریف کا وعدہ بھی آپ کے ساتھ ہے اور آپ کی بیٹی مریم نواز کا وعدہ بھی کہ آزاد جموں… pic.twitter.com/yYGGND4QTl

— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 21, 2026

Addressing a public gathering in Muzaffarabad, Maryam pledged to replicate Punjab's development model in AJK, announcing a package of welfare and infrastructure initiatives, including the introduction of electric buses, mobile hospitals and social protection schemes, while urging voters to elect the PML-N in the July 27 legislative assembly elections.

الیکشن کے دن ہیں ہر جماعت وعدے اور دعوے کر رہی ہے مگر میں صرف اتنا پوچھتی ہوں کہ جنہیں شکایتیں اور الزامات لگانے ہیں، وہ بتائیں یہاں حکومت کس کی ہے؟ مسلم لیگ (ن) الزام نہیں، کام پر یقین رکھتی ہے۔ ہم عوام کے لیے محنت کرتے ہیں، جھوٹے وعدے نہیں کرتے۔ نواز شریف نے جو وعدہ کیا وہ… pic.twitter.com/VrekSRBhvj

— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 21, 2026

Announcing what she described as "gifts" for the people of Muzaffarabad, the Punjab chief minister said 10 green electric buses would be provided for the AJK capital, while 15 "hospitals on wheels" would be launched to improve healthcare services in remote areas.

“I am not here merely to make promises. I am here to present our performance over the last two years in Punjab,” she said, urging voters to compare the governance record of the PML-N with that of its political rivals.

Maryam said she regarded both AJK and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) as her home and described herself as a Kashmiri “by blood, by heart, by soul and by ancestry.”

نواز شریف صاحب نے آپ سے وعدہ کیا ہے کہ اگر آپ نے مسلم لیگ (ن) کو ووٹ دیا تو آزاد کشمیر میں بھی وہی خدمت اور وہی ترقی ہوگی جو آج پنجاب میں نظر آ رہی ہے۔ مسلم لیگ (ن) کا منشور صرف ایک ہے، پنجاب جیسی ترقی آزاد جموں و کشمیر میں بھی لانا۔

وزیراعلی پنجاب مریم نواز شریف#SherInKashmir pic.twitter.com/jRrZtuxFWN

— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 21, 2026

“This is my native city. Kashmir is our jugular vein. These valleys, these mountains and these brothers and sisters are mine,” she declared, paying tribute to the martyrs of Kashmir and reaffirming Pakistan’s support for the Kashmir cause.

She questioned why the long-awaited Kohala-Muzaffarabad Motorway had not yet been completed and said the PML-N was committed to improving road infrastructure across AJK.

“If the people elect a PML-N government in AJK, we will change your destiny,” she said, adding that the development witnessed in Punjab could be replicated in the region.

Referring to Punjab’s public transport reforms, Maryam said green electric buses had reached even tehsil headquarters and promised that similar projects would be introduced in AJK.

Turning her guns on the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), she questioned why the party had failed to resolve public issues despite being part of the government in AJK.

“Some people have been coming here over the past few days, delivering speeches, airing grievances, voicing complaints and levelling allegations. I want to remind them, in all sincerity, who they are accusing. The government here is their own,” she said.

Without naming former prime minister Imran Khan directly, she also referred to his past remarks regarding the numerical strength of political parties in the 2021 polls, saying political realities had changed because of the public's support for the PML-N.

Highlighting Punjab's welfare initiatives, Maryam said more than 400 children from AJK had received life-saving surgeries in Punjab hospitals, while over seven million people had been provided free medicines under the provincial healthcare programme.

She said the Punjab government had launched doorstep public service delivery through the “Maryam Ki Dastak” initiative, under which birth and other official certificates were delivered to citizens at their homes. Similar governance reforms, she said, would also be introduced in AJK.

The Punjab chief minister also highlighted several social welfare programmes, including the Nawaz Sharif Rashan Card, under which deserving families receive monthly food assistance worth Rs3,000, and the Rehmat Card for widows providing Rs100,000 in annual financial assistance.

She further announced that a “Himmat Card” would be introduced for persons with disabilities in AJK if the PML-N formed the next government.

Calling for greater economic opportunities, Maryam urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to extend interest-free loan schemes to AJK residents to promote entrepreneurship and employment.

She maintained that a strong Pakistan was essential for a strong AJK, saying the prosperity and stability of the region were directly linked to Pakistan's economic strength.

“Today, the issues marring Kashmir are because of that mistake,” she said.

Reiterating that Kashmir and Pakistan shared “unbreakable ties”, she said those who incited young people to wield batons were “not friends”.

“Nawaz Sharif and I want the young people to hold laptops and degrees instead,” she added.

She urged voters to compare development in PML-N-governed regions with areas administered by other political parties, saying that development had visibly slowed the moment her convoy crossed Punjab’s provincial boundary.

“In Punjab, where Nawaz Sharif’s government is in power, everything changes the moment the province’s boundaries end. The roads disappear, cleanliness disappears, development disappears, and public transport disappears. So what is the difference? The difference is Nawaz Sharif. The difference is the Pakistan Muslim League-N,” she said.

Maryam argued that governments which had failed to improve roads and healthcare in their own provinces could not be expected to deliver similar facilities in Azad Kashmir.

She also alleged that public resources in those provinces had been lost to corruption and questioned how such governments could ensure that the people of AJK received their due rights.

Urging people to vote wisely, she added: “This is not just a decision about your vote; it is a decision about your destiny.”

In a political appeal to the electorate, Maryam said that regardless of who became the next prime minister of AJK, “the prime minister will have to adopt the Punjab government development model”, asserting that only the PML-N possessed the experience and capacity to deliver development projects.

She concluded by asking voters to support the PML-N in the upcoming elections, promising that the party would transform AJK through the same governance model that, she claimed, had brought visible improvements to Punjab.

‘Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab’: Nawaz Sharif

Earlier, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif described Azad Kashmir as his second home, saying the region was as dear to him as Punjab.

اگر انشاء اللہ مسلم لیگ ن کو عوام نے خدمت کا موقع دیا تو آزاد کشمیر کے تمام مسائل حل کریں گے۔ اگر میں وزیراعظم نہ بھی بن سکا تو ہر تین ماہ بعد مظفرآباد، راولاکوٹ اور دیگر علاقوں کا خود دورہ کروں گا، منشور پر عمل کا جائزہ لوں گا اور عوام کو گواہ بنا کر ہر وعدہ پورا کروں گا۔ جو… pic.twitter.com/wJh7CsSZbG

— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 21, 2026

“Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab,” Nawaz said, adding that there had been no discrimination in development projects across AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and the country's four provinces.

The PML-N leader was joined on stage by Maryam Nawaz and former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider.

Expressing a deep emotional attachment to the region, Nawaz said both AJK and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) formed part of his identity.

“AJK and IIOJK are my homes. Kashmir is my home, and the people of Kashmir are my own people,” he said.

Expressing his desire to become the prime minister of AJK, Nawaz said he would request Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint him to the position if the PML-N won the upcoming elections.

“If you vote for the PML-N, I will come to AJK every three months and personally resolve people’s problems,” he said.

Highlighting Punjab’s development model, Nawaz said he had instructed Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to replicate the province’s development projects in Muzaffarabad and across AJK.

میں نے مریم سے کہا کہ مظفرآباد پاکستان کے خوبصورت ترین شہروں میں شامل ہونا چاہیے۔ جو ترقی پنجاب میں ہو رہی ہے، وہی ترقی آزاد کشمیر میں بھی نظر آنی چاہیے۔ اگر عوام نے مسلم لیگ ن پر اعتماد کیا تو پنجاب کے کامیاب منصوبے ایک ایک کرکے یہاں بھی لائیں گے اور آزاد کشمیر کی تقدیر بدلیں… pic.twitter.com/XI5hkVpxxW

— PMLN (@pmln_org) July 21, 2026

“On winning the AJK elections, we will bring every project here. Projects like those in Punjab will also be built in AJK,” he said, adding that motorway-style infrastructure would also be developed in the region.

Lamenting the lack of development, Nawaz said that while the rest of the country had witnessed the construction of motorways and expressways, the road to Muzaffarabad had remained unchanged.

He recalled that his government had proposed constructing a motorway from Mansehra to Muzaffarabad and then onward to Mirpur along the Jhelum River.

According to Nawaz, the motorway would have accelerated development by facilitating the construction of roads, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities.

The PML-N supremo said he had doubled AJK’s budget during his previous tenure as prime minister and pledged to increase it tenfold if his party formed the next government in the region.

“You know that Nawaz Sharif fulfils the promises he makes,” he said.

He also praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s role in Punjab’s development, saying Maryam Nawaz was successfully carrying forward those initiatives.

Nawaz announced that the Punjab government would provide 10 electric, air-conditioned green buses to Muzaffarabad, saying they would arrive within days.

He further announced that 15 “hospitals on wheels” would soon be deployed across AJK to provide healthcare services to residents of far-flung areas lacking access to medical facilities.

Describing the hardships faced by people in remote areas, Nawaz said it was regrettable that patients were still being carried on charpoys before being transported to Islamabad for tertiary treatment. He said he had revived development programmes for the region and planned to introduce mobile hospitals to save lives.

Referring to the PML-N’s political history, Nawaz said the party had repeatedly been removed from office despite delivering economic growth and development.

“We have suffered injustice many times. Whenever our government was removed, those who came afterwards damaged Pakistan and reversed the country’s progress,” he said.

The former prime minister maintained that the PML-N had a proven record of governance and development and urged voters to compare its performance with that of its political opponents.

He concluded by assuring the audience that the PML-N would bring modern transport, improved healthcare and sustained economic development to AJK, saying the region deserved the same opportunities and public services enjoyed by the people of Punjab.