THATTA / KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said his party will continue to serve the downtrodden people of the country.

Addressing a gathering of PPP workers, members of civil society and the general public outside the Thatta Press Club, he said the PPP manifesto always remained “Awam, Hari and Mazdoor dost”. He said the Benazir Income Support Programme had benefited the poor masses without any discrimination.

The PPP chairman, who was on his way to Badin via Sujawal during his whirlwind election campaign in lower Sindh, said that after coming to power his party would install affordable food stores at the union council level. These stores, to be run by women, would provide edibles to the masses in the province, he added.

He said Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto had sacrificed their lives for the cause of the poverty-ridden population of Pakistan and undoubtedly the blood of the people of Thatta was also included in those sacrifices. He expressed the hope that the people would vote for the PPP candidates in both Sujawal and Thatta.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he was confident that if the masses remained with him nobody could stop the PPP from coming to power and it would change the fate of the country.

He said that during the past five years the PPP had rendered unparalleled services for the people of Sindh as its chief ministers served the masses without any discrimination. The PPP chief asked the people to vote for his party’s candidates.

Earlier addressing the rally, former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said the PPP had provided jobs to the unemployed and it would continue to do so after coming to power again.

Before leaving for Sindh’s southernmost districts, Mr Bhutto-Zardari addressed people at various places in Karachi, including Quaidabad, Malir and Gulshan-i-Hadeed.

“I want to change the fate of Pakistan and elimination of hunger is part of the PPP manifesto,” he said during his brief address in Quaidabad.

He said his party would provide ‘living wage’ to the people if it formed government after the July 25 elections. “Living wage means the livelihood that people earn and live a respectable life.”

He repeated that his party was the only one which had offered a comprehensive manifesto while other parties were still making verbal promises. He said his warm welcome in Lyari on Sunday did not go down well with opposing parties.

“The PPP does not believe in the politics of violence,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said at ano­ther place before leaving the city’s limits.

Later, addressing a rally at DC Chowk, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said people would foil all attempts to delay the elections. He said the voters in Badin district would reject those who had betrayed the party and used foul and filthy language against its leadership. He also spoke at public meetings on Bypass Road near Golarchi.

Hanif Samoon in Badin also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2018