LAHORE: Federal Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique has rapped the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan for wishing to “derail democracy through protest politics”.

“Imran Khan wasted time of people and wanted to derail democracy through his politics of sit-ins,” the minister told a press conference here on Saturday.

“Imran’s politics of road-show has damaged the national economy and delayed state visit of the Chinese president, causing hurdles in the investment worth billions of rupees.”

He also accused the PTI of trying to pressurise the Election Commission which, he said, resulted in suspension of the Prime Minister’s Kissan Package to the disadvantage of the farming community.

Claiming the package had been offered after consultation with all the four provinces, he said it was aimed at resolving problems of the growers and enhancing farm exports.

Flanked by MNAs Marvi Memon, Talal Chaudhry, Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha, Rana Afzal Khan and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, the minister said the PML-N would again win the NA- 122 elections with the public support.

He demanded that the PTI chief should tender an apology to the nation after findings of the judicial commission (rejected allegations of organised rigging in the 2013 general elections) and learn lessons from experiences of other political parties.

He said the masses would evaluate politics of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan.

He said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had put in place comprehensive measures, including infrastructure development and Metro Bus in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan, to raise the living standards of people in the province.

Mr Rafique said the PTI had “double standards” in politics as the party accepted only those courts decisions which were in its favour.

He said PML-N’s “umpires” were always the masses, while Imran Khan used to change his own.

Alleging that the PTI chief had ruined his own politics, the minister asked Imran Khan to stop looking for crutches in the political field.

He said the PML-N never indulged in a clash at any women polling station.

PML-N candidate Sardar Ayaz Sadiq announced that he would accept the by-poll results regardless of who won the contest.

Published in Dawn, October 5th , 2015

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