LAHORE: An untimely agitation by the opposition is only a futile exercise that has badly exposed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), said Chief Minister Usman Buzdar here on Tuesday.

In a statement, the CM said the agitators were striving to obstruct development process in the country and province.

These elements would continue to bewail while Pakistan move forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. There was no room for agitational politics and the narrative of these rejected elements had been rejected by the people.

Meanwhile, MNA Amir Talal Gopang and MPA Syed Muhammad Sibtain Raza met the chief minister at his office and apprised him of the problems in their constituencies.

The CM assured them of solving their problems at the earliest and reiterated that the journey of integrated development and prosperity will also extend to backward areas.

The government followed a policy of composite development and the required resources were being provided to under-developed areas. Earlier, funds were only provided to specific cities, he stated. He regretted that the opposition obfuscated people by raising hollow slogans and false claims.

Mr Buzdar maintained that the opposition was undermining national interest for safeguarding some personal interests. On the other side, the government’s main agenda was public service and it will work hard to provide all facilities to the people, he stressed.

He reiterated that the people of south Punjab had been given their rights for the first time, as the government was fulfilling its promises made with people. The south Punjab secretariat was functional and problems of the people were resolved locally.

He regretted that the past government befooled the residents of the region through hollow slogans, and maintained that south Punjab districts would have been developed if resources were not spent on selected areas.

The CM said the past rulers used south Punjab province slogans for promoting their politics, while its people continued to languish in poverty. It was satisfying that an era of composite development had started by PM Khan as south Punjab funds had been ring-fenced, concluded the CM.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2021