FAISALABAD  -   Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif said on Friday the youth were with his party despite vicious propaganda, and they would play a key role in reemergence of the party as the leading political force of Pakistan.

The former PM was addressing a public gathering at historic Iqbal Park (Dhobi Ghat ground), where he asked the participants to raise their hands who were born on or after 1980. As a large number of the participants raised their hands, he said that clearly negated the propaganda that the youth were with some other political parties, he added.

He said he was impressed by the enthusiasm of the participants in the public meeting. He said, “I have reliable friends and colleagues in Faisalabad since 1980.” He particularly named Chaudhry Sher Ali, Abid Sher Ali, Talal Chaudhry, Mian Farooq and Rana Sanaullah and said they were still steadfast and re­fused to succumb to any pres­sure to change their allegiance.

He said that his tenure was marked with maximum facili­tation to masses. All commod­ities were cheap and available to everyone during his tenure as the prime minister. He said gold was available at Rs. 50,000 per tola and parents did not face any problem in the marriage of their daughters. “At that time when we were fighting against the twin menace of terrorism and load-shedding, others were observing sit-in to achieve their ulterior motives,” he recalled. 

Nawaz Sharif said people re­membered those days when the PML-N government was sent packing. “If our rule would have continued, we would have been able to fight out poverty and un­employment,” he added. He said, “We are committed to weeding out unemployment while the previous rulers befooled mass­es by raising hollow slogans of providing 10 million jobs.” 

He said that the PML-N would restart the develop­ment process where it was abandoned due to his ouster from Prime Minister’s House. He said more motorways would be established to facil­itate people and link different parts of the country. 

Earlier, commenting on the announcement of Shehbaz Sharif to provide metro bus ser­vice to Faisalabad, he said if the PMLN came to power, it would not only start metro bus service but also give a gift of orange line train to the city. 

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Shar­if termed Faisalabad the cit­adel of PML-N on Friday and said that enthusiasm of people clearly indicated that they love Nawaz Sharif from the core of their hearts. 

Addressing a public gather­ing at Iqbal Park (Dhobi Ghat ground) here, he said PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif always considered Faisalabad as his second home, and when he was voted to power earlier, he launched major development projects for the city and trans­formed it into a dynamic city. 

He said that he had visited Satiana Road in 1997 for con­struction of the road. He said he always remained committed to development of the city. He said he asked people whether they wanted metro or express­way, and they opted for an ex­pressway, and Nawaz Sharif di­rected him to give the city what people were demanding. He termed the youth asset to the country and power of society, adding that they would be ful­ly accommodated by providing the best quality education at their doorsteps. 

“We would also offer scholar­ships and restart distribution of laptops among talented stu­dents, so that they could exploit their quality of head and heart to build Pakistan on modern lines,” he added. He promised to provide the city with met­ro bus service, and said that if the PML-N candidates would be voted to power from Faisalabad, the party would set up a state-of-the-art Arfa Kareem IT Uni­versity in this city after forming its government.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Chief Organiser and Se­nior Vice President Maryam Nawaz urged people on Friday to vote the PMLN to power to put Pakistan on the growth tra­jectory. 

During a public meeting at historical Dhobi Ghat ground (Iqbal Park) here, she said she was surprised by the massive gathering, adding that huge par­ticipation in the public meeting showed people love the PML-N, which had served them during its previous tenure. 

She also saluted the commit­ment of Talal Chaudhry and appreciated the allegiance of Rana Sanaullah Khan to the party. She said, “We tagged him as ‘Hakeem Sanaullah’, who prudently tackled the situation by promoting unity among the PMLN cadres.” She said that when Rana Sanaul­lah was implicated in a fake drug-smuggling case, she went to see him. He was wear­ing a mask marked with the symbol of tiger. When asked, Rana Sana Ullah replied that if he was only 2 per cent with Nawaz Sharif, after that case he was turned into a man 1000 times with Nawaz Sharif be­cause of oppressive and illegal act of the ruling party. 

She said that the people of Faisalabad fully honored com­mitment of Rana Sanaullah by making the gathering a histor­ic one. “It seems that people still love Nawaz Sharif, as he was al­ways among them,” she added. 

She said” we believe in the politics of service instead of indulging in insulting political opponents”. She said Nawaz Sharif was ousted from pow­er thrice, but he never compro­mised over national solidarity and integrity.