- Nawaz begins the PML-N election campaign ahead of the AJK elections.
- PML-N president promises to increase AJK’s budget tenfold.
- CM Maryam promises scholarships and laptops for AJK youth.
MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint him as chief minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) if the party emerged victorious in the upcoming elections.
The former prime minister made these remarks while addressing the party’s rally in Muzaffarabad, as he, accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, kicked off the PML-N’s election campaign ahead of the AJK staggered polls, set to begin on July 27.
Addressing party workers, Nawaz said it had been a long time since he last met the people of the region. “Today we meet after a long time. I have stayed away from you,” he said.
The former prime minister also questioned why a highway had not been built between Kohala and Muzaffarabad.
“For me, Azad Kashmir is as dear as Punjab,” he said, adding, “Azad Kashmir is my second home.”
Nawaz pledged to visit AJK every three months if his party won the elections and promised to personally review the development work.
“If we make the PML-N successful, I will personally come here every three months to review the progress of development work,” he said.
He urged voters to support the PML-N, saying the party would work to address the region’s problems if elected.
Referring to development in Punjab, the PML-N president said the projects were initiated by Chief Minister Shehbaz and were now being completed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
Nawaz promised to increase AJK’s budget tenfold if his party formed a government, while promising major infrastructure and public welfare projects.
According to the former prime minister, the PML-N had never discriminated in development projects between AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and the four provinces, saying that development projects similar to those in Punjab would also be launched in the region.
Nawaz recalled that AJK’s budget had doubled when he was Pakistan’s prime minister. “If our government is formed here, we will increase Kashmir’s budget tenfold,” he said.
He further announced that 10 air-conditioned electric green buses would arrive in Muzaffarabad in the coming days and said that 15 mobile hospitals would also be brought for the region.
‘2,000 scholarships and laptops’
Addressing the meeting, the Punjab Chief Minister said that she had not come to the region as a guest. “This is my Azad Jammu and Kashmir. I am a Kashmiri by blood, by heart and mind, by soul and by my ancestry,” he added.
CM Maryam, referring to AJK’s previous polls, claimed that the PML-N had won 17 seats, while the then prime minister’s party had won three.
Maryam claimed that the then prime minister had asked for the election results in AJK to be changed, saying that was the reason for the current problems in the region.
Without naming anyone, the Punjab chief minister criticized his political opponents for raising complaints and leveling allegations during his speeches.
“I respectfully ask: who do you complain about when your own government is here?” he said referring to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
The Punjab CM said that she had not just come to make promises but had presented before the people the performance of the Punjab government for two years. “We have not come to ask for votes, but if you elect the PML-N, I promise you that the destiny of Azad Kashmir will change,” he added.
CM Maryam also announced plans to extend the Punjab government’s initiatives to AJK, including housing, cleanliness and youth support programmes.
He announced educational support measures for the youth and said he had also brought 2,000 scholarships for youth and also laptops.
The Punjab CM said that the ‘Apni Chhat Apna Ghar’ project would also be launched in the region and added that she would request Chief Minister Shehbaz to come up with a ‘Suthra Azad Kashmir’ project for the region.
