PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak flew in two helicopters to Havelian in Abbottabad district to plant a sapling and launch the plantation campaign, an opposition MPA said on Thursday.

“They spent a million rupees by flying in two choppers to Havelian and planted a sapling of just Rs200,” said Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha, an MPA of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz from Abbottabad district.

Speaking on a point in the provincial assembly on Thursday, the opposition member said that the PTI-led coalition government on the one hand was making tall claims about austerity, on the other the party chairman and chief minister were spending money extravagantly.

“Chairman Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak came to Havelian in two separate helicopters where they spent just 10 minutes to plant a sapling. Is that austerity,” he asked the chair. The lawmaker claimed that Rs1 million were spent on the launching ceremony of the drive.

Parliamentary secretary for environment Fazal Elahi did not contradict the statement of the opposition member. He, however, said that thousands of saplings were planted in the area on that day. He warned that he would expose lavish lifestyle of the PML-N leaders if opposition benches did not stop propaganda against his party leaders.