RAHIM YAR KHAN/SUKKUR: Paki­stan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has declared a ‘war’ against Imran Khan who, according to him, was elected prime minister illegally.

“We have entered Punjab. The PPP was founded in Punjab and its Jiyalas are brave and loyal who never bowed before General Zia and General Musharraf,” he said while addressing party workers in the Chowk Bahadurpur area on GT Road on Wednesday night.

Accompanied by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, PPP south Punjab president Makhdoom Syed Ahmed Mehmood and other party leaders, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said the title of ‘selected’ that he had given to Mr Khan became the identity of the “thief of flour, sugar, fertiliser, gas and petrol”.

He said the prime minister had reduced the prices of petrol and electricity after seeing the “Awami March of Jiyalas”. He told the crowd that some politicians after taking ministries had sold the south Punjab issue.

Earlier, addressing a rally in Ghotki, Sindh, the PPP chairman said “selected Imran Khan” had brought destruction to the country in the name of change. He said Mr Khan presented three budgets and made the people’s life miserable.

Inflation, Peca law

He claimed that the puppet [prime minister], who used to say he couldn’t provide relief to the masses as inflation was a world phenomenon, was compelled to cut the prices of petrol and electricity because of the long march of Jiyalas.

“Imran Khan is so afraid of criticism that he has amended the Peca law. We do not accept any such amendment,” he declared.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari asked Mr Khan to count his remaining days, saying that he, along with his Jiyalas, was going to Islamabad to oust the ‘selected prime minster’ who had deprived people of their basic rights, victimised political opponents and weakened ‘stable economy’.

‘Artificial’ urea shortage

He said the ‘puppet’ prime minister had stopped water to the farmers and growers and deprived them of needed urea fertiliser. He alleged that two federal ministers were involved in the recent artificial shortage of urea fertiliser.

The PPP chairman said the prime minister had lost the confidence of people and it was high time to table a no-confidence move against him in parliament.

Sindh CM contacts Buzdar

Meanwhile, the party says the Sindh chief minister has contacted his Punjab counterpart over the issue of alleged hurdles the latter’s government is creating in the way of the party’s long march, which entered Rahim Yar Khan district on Wednesday evening.

The party alleges that the Punjab police erected barriers at Bahadurpur Chowk in Rahim Yar Khan and also barred the vehicles of media persons accompanying the long march.

According to the PPP, Murad Ali Shah in his telephonic conversation requested Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to order removal of the barricades. Mr Buzdar, the party claims, assured CM Shah that hurdles would be removed.

Meanwhile, PPP chairman’s spokesperson Zulfikar Ali Badar has condemned the Punjab government’s “tactics” to block the party’s long march towards Islamabad.

He said in a statement that it was evident that the Punjab government got unnerved by the peaceful protest and was using different tactics to stop the marchers. He urged the administration not to play in the hands of the “puppets” and perform its duties in line with the law of the land.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2022