- Nawaz starts PML-N’s election campaign ahead of AJK polls.
- PML-N President promises tenfold increase in AJK’s budget.
- CM Maryam promises scholarships, laptops for AJK youth.
MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to make him the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) if the party secured victory in the upcoming elections.
The former prime minister made the remarks while addressing the party’s rally in Muzaffarabad as he – accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz – launched the PML-N’s election campaign ahead of the phased AJK polls that began on July 27.
Addressing party workers, Nawaz said it had been a long time since he last met the people of the region. “Today we meet after a very long time. I have been away from you,” he said.
The former prime minister also questioned why a highway had not been constructed between Kohala and Muzaffarabad.
“For me, Azad Kashmir is as dear as Punjab,” he said, adding, “Azad Kashmir is my second home.”
Nawaz promised to visit AJK every three months if his party won the election and promised to personally review the development work.
“If you make PML-N successful, I will personally come here every three months to review the progress of development work,” he said.
He urged voters to support the PML-N and said the party would work to solve the problems of the region if elected.
Referring to the developments in Punjab, the PML-N President said that projects were initiated by Prime Minister Shehbaz and were now completed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
Nawaz promised a tenfold increase in AJK’s budget if his party formed the government, while promising major infrastructure and public welfare projects.
According to the former prime minister, PML-N had never discriminated in development projects between AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and the four provinces and said development projects similar to those in Punjab would also be launched in the region.
Nawaz recalled that the budget of AJK had been doubled when he was the Prime Minister of Pakistan. “If our government is formed here, we will increase Kashmir’s budget tenfold,” he said.
He further announced that 10 electric air-conditioned green buses would reach Muzaffarabad in the next few days and said that 15 mobile hospitals were also brought to the region.
‘2,000 scholarships and laptops’
Addressing the assembly, the Punjab Chief Minister said that she had not come to the region as a guest. “This is my Azad Jammu and Kashmir. I am Kashmiri by blood, by heart and mind, by soul and through my ancestry,” she added.
Referring to the previous AJK polls, CM Maryam claimed that PML-N had won 17 seats while the then Prime Minister’s party had secured three.
Maryam alleged that the then prime minister had asked for the election result in AJK to be changed, saying it was the cause of the region’s ongoing problems.
Without naming anyone, the Punjab chief minister criticized political opponents for airing grievances and making elaborate accusations during their speeches.
“I respectfully ask, who are you complaining about when your own government is here?” she said, referring to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
The Punjab CM said that she had not only come to make promises but had brought the two-year achievements of the Punjab government before the people. “We have not come to ask for votes, but if you vote for PML-N, I promise that the fate of Azad Kashmir will change,” she added.
CM Maryam also announced plans to extend Punjab government initiatives to AJK, including housing, cleanliness and youth support programmes.
She announced educational support measures for youth and said she had also brought 2,000 scholarships for youth and laptops.
The Punjab CM said that the “Apni Chhat Apna Ghar” project would also be launched in the region, adding that she would request Prime Minister Shehbaz to introduce a “Suthra Azad Kashmir” project for the region.
