PESHAWAR: On his first visit to Peshawar as PML-N president, Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday said he expected that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan would have really brought changes in the life of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but the deep ditches and destruction witnessed all around was enough proof that the PTI chief was not a man of his word.

Addressing party workers’ convention, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief alleged that Mr Khan was in the habit of telling lies all the time. “I sued him in the court of law, but he avoids attending the court,” he said.

Shahbaz Sharif, who is also the chief minister of Punjab, claimed that if his party was given a chance in the 2018 elections he would bring Peshawar at par with Lahore and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at par with Punjab province in terms of development.

Says Imran in the habit of telling lies; PTI lawmaker joins PML-N

He said PTI had failed to fulfil its commitments of last general elections and thus it would be unable to seek votes in future. He said that people had attached expectations to PML-N only and it would get overwhelming majority in the next general election.

He said that Mr Khan had promised to construct over 300 power stations in KP, but he had failed to do so. He rejected his claim of generating 70 megawatts of electricity and said that the KP government generated only 10 megawatts of electricity, but failed to repair 80-megawatt Malakand power house.

The PML-N chief said that if his party came to power in KP it would utilise its untapped resources to develop the sectors of power, agriculture and industries. He termed PTI government’s billion tree project a ‘fraud’, saying that NAB had initiated probe into the project which would expose all those involved in corruption.

He said that the PTI government had set up KP Ehtesab Commission, but it was rendered useless when its former director general started inquiries against the provincial ministers. Referring to Mr Khan’s diatribe against Metro bus projects in Punjab by calling it ‘jangla bus’, he said that the PTI government was now constructing the same in Peshawar. He said that by launching the Bus Rapid Transit project, PTI had destroyed the entire infrastructure where movement of people had become impossible.

“With spread of dengue in Punjab, Imran had started calling us as dengue brothers, but when the same virus spread in KP the PTI chief climbed on hills, leaving his supporters alone in the hour of need,” he said.

Shahbaz Sharif said that the credit went to the Punjab government which had sent teams of doctors to KP and provided medical treatment to the patients in the hour of need. He said that during its five-year tenure, the PTI government had failed to construct a single hospital or a university, while work was in progress in several big hospitals in Punjab which would also accommodate people from KP.

The PML-N chief also talked about development in education sector in his province and added that endowment fund had been set up to help deserving students in addition to distribution of laptops. He mentioned Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital in Swat and Lowari Tunnel, and claimed that credit went to the former prime minister for completion of these projects.

He said that it was Nawaz Sharif that made Pakistan a nuclear state despite foreign pressure and built motorways. He appreciated sacrifices of the security forces and people against terrorism and said that peace had been restored in the country, especially in Fata, by the PML-N government.

Adviser to the prime minister, Amir Muqam, and National Assembly deputy speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi also spoke at the convention. Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Senator Pir Sabir Shah and Zaeem Qadri were also present. PTI MNA from Nowshera, Siraj Khan, joined PML-N on this occasion.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2018