LAHORE:
The political dispute between the PML-N and the PPP that governs respectively on the provinces of Punjab and Sindh initially arose from disagreements about the use of Benazir’s income support program (BISP) for the relief of flood victims.
However, the altercation between the two parties, whose marriage of convenience holds the current political dispensation, intensified on Monday, such as Punjab Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz, raised the spectrum of building the very controversial channel of Colistan in a speech that the PPP denounced as “hateful and divisive.”
When heading to the launch of electric buses in Faisalabad, Maryam declared that he would not be inclined to “unjustified criticisms” and insinuated to advance with the Cholistan channel project, a movement that has already struggled the coalition association.
Taking a direct blow to the PPP, Maryam said: “What is for you, if from our own water and our own money we want to water our own land in the Cholistan desert?”
On the other side of the border, where, according to her, there are no disputes, they have already watered their desert and are reaping agricultural products. “If you can do it, why can’t we? We are not stealing anyone from their water.” He accused the PPP of objecting each initiative of his government, from the relief of electricity to irrigation projects.
“I was silent before, but now they criticize us for using Punjab’s own resources to help our people. This money belongs to the people of Punjab. If we do not spend it on them, what are we supposed to spend it?” She asked.
Maryam said he didn’t need anyone’s permission to serve Punjab.
“When it comes to the people of Punjab and Punjabis, we will not let you have it easy,” he said. She criticized the PPP for, in her words, “to attack the prime minister and me” simply for refusing to seek international help.
“Unfortunately, they think that begging is the solution to each problem. Each province obtains its part of the NFC. If you should not spend on our people, what is it for?”
Responding to the objection of the PPP on not using BISP data, Maryam said the BISP is intended for small cash disbursements to the disadvantaged, while the rehabilitation program of its government was much more substantial.
“The Bisp gives 10,000 rupees, but our government aims to give RS1 million to those who lost their homes and RS500,000 to those who lost their cattle. Half million people have lost their homes. Dozens of teams are already on the ground conducting a survey of losses,” he said.
Acute comments caused strong reactions of PPP leaders.
The Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said “deep disappointment” in a publication on social networks, describing Maryam’s comments as “divisive and odious rhetoric” and promising a detailed refutation at a press conference on Tuesday.
The PPP Central Information Secretary Shazia Marri also replied: “Leaders do not issue threats: they show service and performance. The PPP has always chosen patience despite criticism.”
He pointed out that the president of PPP, Bilawal Bhutto, had asked for immediate relief through the BISP, remembering that during the victims of the 2022 floods they were given RS25,000 per family through the program, and in 2025 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was also based on Bisp data for the Ramzan package.
“We will continue to focus on farmers and people affected by floods in Sindh. The leaders serve threats. In times of natural disaster, it is not about ego and pride, but about helping people. Our help work is our priority,” Marri emphasized.
His comments caused a counterattack of the Minister of Information and Culture of Punjab, Azma Bokhari, who accused the PPP of acting as a “knowledge.”
“They are the ones who emit said and, at the same time, give threats. Where it does not have a mandate, do not try to build a mosque by force in borrowed lands. Such attempts will never succeed,” he warned.
Azma also said that if Bilawal wanted to prove her performance, she should do it in Sindh where the PPP governs. “The people of Punjab have given her mandate to Maryam Nawaz. She understands her problems and already addresses them effectively,” Bokhari argued.
He made fun of the PPP agency in the Bisp stipend: “The Punjab government will not participate in symbolic policy by distributing rupees of RS12,000. Such lollipops must be reserved for Sindh.”
She remembered the leaders of the PPP that “this is not 2022 but 2025,” and added that Punjab remained firm in his development and well -being agenda and would not bow to external pressure.
When the Express PAkGazette asked him if the Punjab Government was considering reliving the Cholistan archive channel project, Azma briefly responded: “Let’s see.”
