Nawaz Sharif jibes at Bilawal, unveils PML-N promises at Mirpur rally

MIRPUR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif took a swipe at Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during an election rally in Mirpur on Friday, while also outlining his party’s pledges for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) ahead of the legislative assembly polls.

Addressing supporters, Nawaz said Bilawal should not take his comments badly and added that political competition should remain within the bounds of healthy rivalry rather than turn violent. Referring to the PPP chairman, he remarked:

This is Kashmir, not Kashmore, and this is Mirpur, not Mirpurkhas.

Nawaz said he regarded AJK as his first home rather than a second one and questioned what progress had been made in the region after he left office. He asked what those who succeeded him had done for AJK and said no major development had taken place there after his ouster.

PML-N manifesto and development pledges

The former premier said he had brought the PML-N’s election manifesto for AJK and asked whether any party other than the PML-N had delivered development work in the region. He said the party would place education for young people among its top priorities and promised additional hospitals focused on cancer and heart disease treatment in AJK.

Nawaz also said Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was bringing electric buses and 10 mobile hospitals for Mirpur. He further pledged motorway construction across AJK, an expressway linking Murree and Muzaffarabad, and provision of gas to every household in Mirpur. He added that if the PML-N forms the next AJK government, he would approach Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to seek an international airport for Mirpur.

Maryam Nawaz’s address

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who also addressed the rally, expressed confidence that the PML-N would win in all divisions of AJK in the coming elections. She said the time had come to bring development to the region and argued that AJK was not short of resources but required stronger infrastructure.

Maryam said the main requirement in AJK was improved public infrastructure, including hospitals, metro and electric bus services, ration programmes, housing schemes and the political will to implement them. She pledged that services currently available in Punjab would also be extended to AJK if the PML-N wins the elections.

Election schedule

Polling for the AJK Legislative Assembly will be held in three phases beginning on July 27. According to AJK Chief Election Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Mughal, voting in Mirpur Division will take place first on July 27, followed by Muzaffarabad Division on August 2 and Poonch Division on August 10.