The former chief minister Sindh, Murad Ali Shah, on Tuesday criticised the former chief minister Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, for campaigning in Karachi with "tall claims" about what he [Sharif] can do for Sindh.
Earlier in the day, Shahbaz Sharif had spoken at a campaign rally in Karachi, promising to address the city's many issues if it gave PML-N the mandate to do so.
"Shahbaz Sharif is making tall claims about making Karachi like Paris [if he is elected to office], when, as a matter of fact, they [the PML-N] refused to give Sindh its due share in water, power and the National Finance Commission [award]," Shah was quoted as saying in a press statement.
“We had requested the federal government to give separate share of water to Karachi because people from all over Pakistan are living here, but they rejected our request in the Council of Common Interests meeting,” he was reported as saying. “Now Shahbaz Sharif is claiming he can provide water to the people of Karachi within the next three years.”
Shah also accused the PML-N government of deliberately resorting to prolonged gas load-shedding in Karachi "so that industrial units operating in the city could be shifted to Punjab".
“The PML-N government tried to destroy industrial economy of the province but it was the PPP government which fought the case for industrialists and controlled gas load-shedding to some extent,” he said.
Shah also said that "when the PML-N leadership goes out of power, its heart starts pumping [...] for the people of Sindh.
"But the people of Sindh are well aware of the anti-Sindh policies of the PML-N leadership,” he added.
He also complained that the PML-N government had given megaprojects to Lahore, but totally ignored Karachi — "though the federal government kept generating huge revenues from this city".
“After our hue and cry, you [the PML-N government], finally gave Karachi one BRT Green Bus project. But again, it fell victim to your disinterest, which is why it has not been completed in four years. This is the attitude of the PML-N leadership and the government,” he complained.
