UMERKOT, May 3: Senior Vice Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, has said that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s ideology has been buried in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh since ‘Zardari league’ took over the party and the country.

Mr Qureshi who is running for NA-228 (Umerkot) as a PTI candidate said the genuine PPP had firm faith in its founder Z.A. Bhutto’s credo that real power rested with people but the present PPP, which was in fact ‘Zardari league’ believed the real power was held by America.

He was addressing a large public meeting in Lamba ground here late on Thursday night. The PTI was for good relations with the US based on mutual friendship and not enslavement of nation, he said.

He said that outgoing government had given nothing to the country except for inflation, lawlessness, terrorism, unemployment, plunder of national exchequer and resources.

No serious steps had ever been taken for the socio-economic development of the country and the educated youth had been left to fend for themselves, seek visas and flee the country, he said.

He said the previous government had tarnished the country’s image to the extent that Pakistani passport was objected to and Pakistanis were hated in every corner of the world. The government could not run affairs of state without seeking loans from the World Bank, he said, adding that Zardari regime’s corruption had broken all previous records in the 60 years of the country.

He said that when he announced contesting election from Umerkot the PPP immediately awarded ticket to his opponent who was otherwise not acceptable to the party.

Mr Qureshi said that Umerkot PPP had been in a disarray for long but just a few days before polls PPP leaders Ali Mardan Shah and Nawab Mohammad Yousuf Talpur agreed to sit together in order to hoodwink people but this cosmetic union would perish on May 11.

He said that he had come to Umerkot to bring change and it was now up to voters to vote right persons or hand over the country to the same plunderers.

PTI candidate Lal Malhi said that Hindu girls were being kidnapped and forcibly converted during PPP government. Minority temples and graveyards were not safe and they faced discriminatory laws but the PTI had promised them Quaid’s Pakistan with equal rights to minorities, he said.

PML-F leader Syed Muzzafar Hussain Shah said that minorities did not feel secure in the past government, which did not carry out any development in the area. The little development work carried out in some areas was executed only to skim commission, he said.