MURREE: Voters in Murree have been protesting against election candidates, saying they have not fulfilled the promises they made before the last general elections in 2013.

PML-N candidate for the Punjab Assembly, former provincial minister Raja Ishfaq Sarwar, was met with protesters who belonged to his own party in Kotli Sattian when he went to open an election office on Friday.

Hundreds of PML-N workers gathered at the Kotli Bazaar and raised slogans against Raja Ishfaq. They did not allow him to open an office in the bazaar or to address the workers.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N Youth Wing Malot Sattian President Wajid Ali Satti said the people of the area had voted for Mr Sarwar and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in 2013 and in other elections. However, he said, the two had not fulfilled the promises they had made.

He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif had both visited Kotli Sattian and while addressing a public gathering, had conceded that it was one of the most backward and under-developed towns in Punjab. They had announced a number of projects, he said, but none of the projects were completed during the last government.

The senior vice president of the party’s youth wing in Kotli Sattian told Dawn that party workers had worked hard during the PML-N election campaign in 2013 but the party’s MNA and MPA had not fulfilled the promises made by the party leadership. He vowed that PML-N workers will boycott these candidates in the upcoming elections.

Talking to Dawn, Raja Ishfaq Sarwar denied that the protesters were from PML-N and said a few people from other parties had raised the slogans. He said he was leading a rally of hundreds of vehicles.

Mr Sarwar claimed that he had launched and completed almost all the development projects in Kotli Sattian and that many of the development projects – including roads, hospitals, Rescue 1122 and water supply- are in progress.

He said the people of Kotli Sattian have always supported him and will support him in the upcoming elections as well.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2018