CHARSADDA: Qaumi Watan Party provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said the other day that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government had added to the people’s woes by jacking up power tariff twice in the current month.

Addressing a public gathering in Abazai union council here, he said the PTI government, in order to hide its failures, held the previous governments responsible for its incompetence.

On the occasion, PTI workers, including Khayal Gul, Azmat Khan, Ikramullah, Nek Amal and others announced joining the QWP. They reposed confidence in the QWP leadership and vowed to work for strengthening the party at the grassroots level.

Sikandar Sherpao said that Prime Minister Imran Khan talked about accountability, but he was unable to face the foreign funding case of his party.

He said the decision to import about eight lakh ton sugar would cause losses to the sugarcane growers at a time when the crushing season had started. “This decision will benefit the mills owners,” he added.

The QWP leader said the government twice increased the POL prices in the current month, which was a grave injustice to the people. He said jacking up the prices of petroleum products always led to inflation.

“When the past governments would revise POL prices or power tariffs, minister Asad Umar would call it regressive taxation,” he said, ridiculing the PTI leaders for their double standards.

Holding the PTI government responsible for compounding the people’s miseries, Sikandar Sherpao said that incompetence coupled with inexperience had caused immense damage to the country’s economy.

He said the slogan of change was a ploy to reach the power corridors, adding the PTI government was least bothered to mitigate the sufferings of have-nots.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2021