MARDAN - President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that if the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa give them a chance in the upcoming general elections, he would bring the province on par with Punjab and Peshawar with Lahore.

He expressed these views on Saturday while addressing a public gathering at Shergarh village in tehsil Takhatbhai. A large number of PML-N workers wearing coloured party caps and flags attended the gathering. It was more like a show of power by member KP Assembly Jamshed Mohmand, who had joined PTI after winning by-elections following the death of his brother Imran Mohmand in a suicide attack. Later, he quit the PTI and joined the PML-N.

The PML-N activists chanted slogans in favour of the party and its leadership throughout the day and marched on the main road to celebrate arrival of the party president and other leaders. Big banners and posters of Mian Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and other central and provincial leaders were displayed on almost all the main roads and venue of the meeting.

PML-N KP President Ameer Muqam, district president Inayat Shah Bacha and others also addressed the gathering.

Shehbaz Sharif said that in the last five years, he had started several projects in Punjab. He added that he started Danish schools for the downtrodden masses of Punjab where the children of poor people are getting free education.

“An orphan female child, Aysia, belonging to Bahawalpur, studied at Danish School and today she is a doctor,” he added. Shehbaz said the PML-N government had started Khadim-e-Aala Rozgar Scheme in Punjab. He added through this scheme, the government provided Rs40 billion worth of loans without interest to two million male and female youth.

Shehbaz said the PML-N government had constructed roads in rural areas of Punjab with a cost of Rs100 billion. He added the Punjab government provided fertilisers to farmers on half rate and also gave interest-free loans to the poor farmers. He added they started work on 5,000 megawatts electricity projects in Punjab.

The PML-N president strongly criticised Imran Khan and said that Khan during the 2013 elections had claimed that he would provide electricity to all Pakistan but he could not start any project in KP so far.

He added through sit-ins and protests Khan inflicted great loss on Pakistan which benefitted India. He said that if the people of KP gave them a chance in the upcoming elections he would change the fate of the people of the province and would start projects like in Punjab on tehsil and district levels in KP. He added Imran said that he was a principled leader but in the Senate elections the people saw his real face.

Ameer Muqam on the occasion said that so-called leader Imran Khan had arranged gathering at Minar-i-Pakistan in Lahore while asking the people of KP to attend the rally. “Imran should show performance in KP,” he added.

He added master of U-turns again took a U-turn. He added that Parvez Khattak in a press conference at Islamabad said that he would not present the next budget of the province but later took U-turn and said that he would present the budget. He added that PTI government destroyed the province in the last 5 years. He added that PTI government changed Peshawar in to graveyard, adding that they would bury Imran Khan, Parvez Khattak and PTI in this grave yard in the upcoming elections.