ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan is eyeing a landslide victory for his ruling coalition in the Local Government (LG) elections to be held this year, sources said on Sunday.
The sources in the ruling PTI and its allied parties at the Centre and provinces told The Nation that the prime minister is working to ensure a landslide victory for his party and its coalition partners including GDA, MQM-P, PML (Quaid-e-Azam) and other groups in Balochistan in the forthcoming LG polls.
His recent visits to Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab provinces are largely political with clear focus on LG polls. The sources privy to the development said that he would soon visit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and erstwhile FATA districts.
Imran Khan has already started his political interactions with the leaders of the coalition parties.
He had comprehensive meetings last week with Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, President of PML-Q and discussed the overall political situation in the province. Both the leaders agreed to enhance coordination for the legislation and development in the province.
Also, he separately had political interactions with the leaders of MQM-P and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) during his visit to Sindh as well as leaders of the Balochistan coalition government during his visit to the province last week.
He also held a meeting with Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, President of Awami Mulsim League, and discussed the overall political situation in the country.
The sources further said that the prime minister has already approved funds for the parliamentarians to carry out development schemes in their respective constituencies.
Some sources insisted that Rs24 billion have been doled out to the sitting MNAs and MPAs belonging to the ruling coalition ahead of the LG polls which, the PTI sources rejected saying it has nothing to do with the LG polls.
They said that funds are being granted for the “Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP)” through the Cabinet Division to ensure that people in the rural areas are provided basic facilities.
On the other hand, parliamentarians from the opposition parties have been upset on the way tax money is being allegedly spent by the ruling coalition.
“This discretionary spending is in total violation of the Supreme Court’s judgement in the discretionary spending case of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf,” said a PPP MNA. A PML-N MNA has claimed that the hefty funds have been diverted from the Planning Commission to the Cabinet Division without parliament’s approval.
In a related development, the PTI government has also set up a steering committee, headed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeemul Haq, for approving development schemes recommended by MNAs for their respective constituencies.
The steering committee has recently held its first meeting to approve the schemes of parliamentarians. The schemes are being forwarded to the committee from district level.
