KOHAT/D.I. KHAN, May 5: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president of Pakistan People’s Party Anwar Saifullah has promised to establish power plants in gas- and oil-rich Kohat and Karak districts, if people elected his party to rule.

He said that joblessness could be removed by constructing network of factories. He said that in this regard their first priority would be to provide electricity and tackle the menace of unemployment. He was speaking to a gathering of supporters in Ustarzai town here on Sunday.

He dubbed the leadership of some religious parties as mentally retarded, which wanted to push Pakistan back into abyss of narrow mindedness and backwardness. He asked the people to vote for enlightened parties, which had future plan for the people and country.

He said that the PPP believed in politics of reconciliation and that was why it completed five-year term in government. He vowed that the PPP would not compromise on the sacrifices of their leaders and would serve the country with honesty.

The candidate from PK-38, Qalb-i-Hassan, who had arranged the public meeting in Ustarzai, said that the Bangash tribe of the area was with the PPP for years and termed Sherkot village in the area as mini-Larkana.

In Dera Ismail Khan, Anwar Saifullah said that people of Dera would get Chashma Lift Canal, special economic zone, sewerage system and modern healthcare facilities if his party came into power again.

He was speaking at the election rally of PPP candidate for NA-24 Senator Waqar Ahmad here the other day. Mr Saifullah said that fearing accountability and defeat in the election the JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, was changing constituencies. He accused the JUI-F chief of hoodwinking people of Dera in the name of Islam. He said that the dream of Seraiki and Hazara provinces would be realised after the PPP came into power.

Senator Ahmed also addressed the rally and said that the JUI-F politics was drifting to its logical end, as during the last regime Mr Rehman and his party gave nothing to the people of Dera. He also demanded of the Election Commission of Pakistan to take notice of the pre-poll rigging by the JUI-F leadership for continuing installation of electricity poles and other uplift activities with the help of local Pesco officials. —Dawn Report