PML-N, PPP spar over Lahore-Bahawalnagar highway funds in NA

A confrontation between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) was narrowly averted during a National Assembly on Tuesday after a dispute arose over the proposed transfer of funds for the Lahore-Bahawalnagar highway.

The issue surfaced when PPP member Syed Naveed Qamar submitted a notice on the alleged diversion of funds from the Sukkur-Hyderabad expressway project to the Lahore-Bahawalnagar expressway. PPP lawmakers accused the PML-N-led government of redistributing development funds for political purposes.

In response to the allegations, Minister for Planning Armaghan Subhani denied the allegations. He said that Qamar had raised an issue regarding the transfer of Rs 465 billion from the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) to the Bahawalpur Expressway, but there was no final justification for such an allegation. He added that no inter-scheme allocations were made for the project.

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However, Qamar said the issue was not only about diversion of PSDP funds but whether the project had been federalised. He argued that the highway clearly fell within a single province running from one point to another. He further claimed that the terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were ignored for political reasons. “I don’t think that’s the best way to handle these projects,” he said.

PPP leader Sharmila Farooqi said that the promises made on the floor of the Parliament contradict the facts. She noted that the project’s PC-1, worth Rs 465 billion, had already been submitted to the Central Development Working Group (CDWP).

“This is a fully provincial project and including it in the PSDP is a breach of the National Fiscal Compact where no provincial project can be included in the PSDP unless the province agrees to a 50 percent funding plan. It was recommended for submission to the ECNEC even though it cannot be funded by the federal government,” she said.

Calling it a grave violation, Farooqi warned that if Punjab’s projects were funded unilaterally, other provinces – Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – would follow suit and create inequality across the country. She claimed that the project’s cost had increased by 73 percent, adding that despite the escalation, the design had not yet been completed. “They don’t have a financing plan and that’s why they’re trying to include it in the PSDP,” she added.

In response, Subhani confirmed that the CDWP had reviewed the project, but clarified that only part of it – 18.5 kilometers – fell under PSDP funding.

He said the relevant forum had approved the PSDP schemes and the CDWP had recommended the project for submission to the National Economic Council Executive Committee (ECNEC) while the remaining funding would be managed by the province. He emphasized that the federal government did not provide additional funding for the project.

Separately, PPP lawmaker Agha Rafiullah criticized the government’s behavior, saying, “The PPP fully understands the government’s modus operandi; it says one thing but does another. The recent executive order, issued without the president’s signature and later withdrawn, is an example of that.”

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He added that if the government was serious about connecting Hyderabad-Sukkur and the rest of Sindh with Pakistan’s economic corridor, it should make a clear policy statement. While expressing confidence in the Prime Minister’s commitments, he warned that effective implementation was not possible with an incompetent team.

The session was chaired by Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who tried to defuse the situation by directing Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan to submit detailed reports on the matter. He later referred the matter to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Planning for further investigation.

PPP member Nabeel Gabol also criticized the government, claiming that key ministers were absent during important discussions. He raised further public grievances in Karachi over K-Electric’s performance and said residents continued to face difficulties.

During the session, three private members’ bills were presented, while reports from several standing committees relating to various ministries were also presented. The National Assembly was adjourned until 11.00 on January 16.