Bilawal challenges Imran Khan to contest election from Karachi

Published April 12, 2018
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, accompanied by the chief minister and others, walks out of airport.—Dawn
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, accompanied by the chief minister and others, walks out of airport.—Dawn

MITHI: Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that he has invited Imran Khan to contest election from Karachi, where “we will defeat him”.

Bilawal said this at a programme organised by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) to hand over keys of houses to the villagers displaced by the project of Thar Coalfield Block-II at Sehri village on Wednesday.

He said that PPP would return victorious with majority of seats in the upcoming general election. The PPP was developing Karachi though the city was still being ruled by a local party through Karachi Metropolitan Corporation but the party leaders who were fighting with one another were neither working themselves nor allowing others to work, he said.

He said the federal government was denying Sindh government its rights. It was not fixing tariff for power projects, not announcing NFC Award and not giving Sindh its due share in water, he said, adding Mian Nawaz Sharif had always remained prime minister of only Lahore not of entire Pakistan, he said.

He said in answer to a question royalty of coal would be spent on the development of Thar and denied reports about estrangement of Makhdoom Saeeduz­zaman from the party. He said the public-private partnership projects, involving Sindh government, SECMC and other national and international companies was producing results.

Thar had, of course chang­ed, and now it was going to change the entire Pakistan by meeting its energy needs and exporting the surplus energy.

Bilawal said that coal mining and coal-based power generation were helping bring about a revolution of prosperity and development.

The onus was now on the federal government to make benefits of all the projects being launched under CPEC to trickle down to masses, he said. He said that fast-developing Thar was the answer to the objection raised against the coal project, which questioned its benefits to local population as 71 per cent of the project’s employees were drawn from Tharparkar’s local communities.

Earlier, the chief guests of the programme Bilawal and the Sindh chief minister handed over keys of houses to affected villagers and the chief minister and CEO of SECMC Shamsuddin Shaikh briefed PPP chairman about the projects being run by the government and the company in Thar.

Bilawal visited a TCF school wor­k­ing under Thar Foundation where students demonstrated karate skills and presented a tableau before the guests.

Bilawal was received at Mai Bakhtawar Airport, constructed at a cost of Rs2.2 billion by the chief minister and ministers Nisar Khuhro, Nasir Shah, Dr Khatu Mal, Senator Krishna Kumari, MPA Dr Mahesh and local leaders.

The chief minister briefed him about the facility after the PPP chairman formally inaugurated the airport building.

Mr Shah said that it was the first airport the provincial government had constructed from its own resources.

It would provide landing facility to visiting investors and five-star level accommodation at Thar Lodges which had been built for Rs80 million.

Shahid Afridi donates Rs100m for hospital

Star cricketer Shahid Khan Afridi who also spoke at the programme presented to the chief minister, executive director of NICVD Dr Nadeem Qamar and SECMC CEO a cheque for Rs100m for the construction of a hospital in Thar.

He congratulated the PPP chief and the chief minister for constructing the airport and carrying out development works.

“Bilawal is a son of legendary leader Benazir Bhutto. Therefore, people have great hopes in him,” he said. “Now children of Thar will play cricket. I will play with you,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2018

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