LAHOrE - PML-N central leaders, including federal ministers, yesterday turned up to Samanabad for electioneering in the NA-122 constituency and claimed that the ruling party candidate will retake the seat.
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Benazir Income Support Programmer Chairperson Marvi Memon, Faisalabad lawmaker Talal Chaudhary and other leaders addressed a public meeting to show support to their candidate Ayaz Sadiq.
The PML-N campaign is already being led by Hamza Shahbaz while the important leaders of the party from PML-N like Pervaiz Malik, Khawaja Ahmad Hassan and others are accompanying him.
Saad announced the other day joining the campaign, saying the notification which barred the ministers from campaigning had been suspended by the court.
Addressing the PML-N meeting, Saad said Imran’s politics revolved around blame game only. He said the people voted Nawaz Sharif because the latter never indulged in dirty politics.
“Nawaz Sharif made Pakistan an atomic power. He never took pressure from America,” Saad said and foreseen victory in the upcoming election as the people had “rejected the politics of Khan”. Talal Chaudhary questioned Imran Khan’s anti-corruption formula, saying that he (Khan) had failed to curb corruption within his party. He said the PML-N would emerge victorious on October 11—the day of polling.
Marvi Memon claimed that Nawaz Sharif brought a good name to Pakistan all over the world. She said the PTI would be defeated in re-election.
NA-122 candidate Ayaz Sadiq said that people of Lahore would give a historic verdict in the favour of PML-N. He said Khan made false claims of rigging but always failed to prove its wrong allegations. He said that PTI could never win a single by-poll election but its only job was uttering baseless allegations.
“Youth is fed up of politics of sit-ins of Khan and they hate him. The former speaker of National Assembly said Aleem Khan wanted to win the election by money but would not succeed in his mission as the PML-N had already won the heart of the people by its policies,” he added.
Later Saad Rafique, along with Ayaz Sadiq and Water and Power State Minister Abid Sher Ali called press conference at Lahore Press Club and rebuffed allegations raised by PTI chairman Imran Khan during PTI’s Samanabad public meeting.
PTI chairman in his speech pointed out that PML-N had planned rigging especially at female polling station in NA-122 by-polls, the cases were registered in NAB against Sharifs and they also involved in tax-evasion and that the being prime minister of a country where people were dying with hunger, Nawaz Sharif purchased a costly airplane for his tours.
Rafique said the prime minister was not using the latest airplane for his personal visit but it was being used for official foreign tours. He maintained that the PM could not go abroad at rickshaws and buses.
He said he deposited Rs2.9 million income tax while Nawaz Sharif deposited Rs4.2 million income tax last year, questioning Khan to inform the nation about his own tax returns while living a house of 300 kanals.
He said the PML-N won the general election with clear people mandate and that obtaining stay orders from higher court against lower court’s verdict was purely a legal matter. Many of PTI’s MPAs including KPK agriculture minister obtained stay order in their cases, he added.