ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Awais Leghari has criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government for not fulfilling its promise of creating new provinces in Punjab, saying it seems that the rulers have taken a U-turn on this issue.

Speaking at a news conference here on Saturday, Mr Leghari, who is also the secretary general of the Punjab chapter of the PML-N, lashed out at the federal and Punjab governments for “destroying” country’s agriculture sector.

He recalled that his party had submitted a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly last year seeking creation of Bahawalpur and south Punjab provinces, but the government had put them in a cold storage.

The PML-N leader regretted that the PTI and the PML-Q leaders during their recent meetings on coalition matters did not discuss the issue of the new provinces at all.

He alleged that due to the government’s policies, the farmers of the country had been suffering and spending a miserable life.

He also criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for inaugurating the old projects that had been initiated by the previous PML-N government.

Meanwhile, secretary information of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Dr Nafisa Shah in a statement alleged that on one hand, over 800,000 women had been taken out of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and on the other hand, Rs22 billion had been “stolen” from the Benazir Income Stock Employees Scheme.

The PPP leader said the projects which were inaugurated by former prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervez Ashraf were being inaugurated again by Imran Khan.

“There is only one project for Imran Khan and that is the BRT project which is buried under massive corruption by his cronies. Imran Khan’s corrupt friends are now demanding Rs4.37bn for the BRT so that they can gulp that money as well,” Dr Shah alleged.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2020