PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday escalated his verbal onslaught against PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, accusing him of attempting to make inroads into Sindh – his party's fortress – by establishing "a puppet government" in the province.
Bilawal alleged that the former premier’s grand plan extended beyond imposing himself on Pakistan, adding that he was scheming for a puppet government in Karachi, all set to pilfer the rights and resources.
“Nawaz is not only trying to impose himself on Pakistan, he also wants a puppet government sitting in Karachi, so that he can rob your rights and your resources,” Bilawal alleged while addressing a public meeting in Chachro, Tharparkar district.
He, later in the evening, also spoke at a large public meeting in Mirpurkhas district.
He warned Tharparkar’s people that the PML-N also wanted to exploit the resource-rich Karoonjhar mountain which they had been protecting for a long time.
“They think if their government is formed, they will exploit granite and mineral resources of Karoonjhar.”
He underscored that the mountain was an asset of Tharparkar and that only the district’s people had the right to benefit from it.
“If they move their hands towards Karoonjhar, we will cut off their hands.”
چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری ضلع تھرپارکر کی تحصیل چھاچھرو میں انتخابی جلسہ عام سے خطاب کررہے ہیں۔@BBhuttoZardari #چنو_نئی_سوچ_کو
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) February 3, 2024
#TharparkharKaNishaanTeer pic.twitter.com/MM3qJU4P6i
The local people last year launched a protest movement and also started legal battles after which the contracts for extracting granite and minerals from the mountain were cancelled by the Sindh government.
The PPP chairman charged the PML-N for allegedly conspiring to trigger hatred and division among the people in Mirpurkhas as well as for having prepared a rigging plan.
“They [PML-N] are telling their facilitators who do politics of hate and division and the politics of terror to rig the elections,” he said referring to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan.
Bilawal contended that the MQM-P could not accept the fact that the people of Karachi and Hyderabad had elected two jiyalas as mayors of their cities.
He argued that the party wanted to repeat the political violence, giving examples of two recent violent incidents in Karachi.
“I want to warn them that if my workers get hurt, I will hold them accountable for this with my own hands.”
پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کے ضلع تھرپارکر کی تحصیل چھاچھرو کے انتخابی جلسہ عام میں عوام و کارکنان شریک ہیں@BBhuttoZardari #چنو_نئی_سوچ_کو
— PPP (@MediaCellPPP) February 3, 2024
#TharparkharKaNishaanTeer pic.twitter.com/b3sQYjF4xG
The PPP chairman emphasised that the people of Sindh had put to rest the politics of ethnic division and animosity.
However, he pointed out that certain political vested interests were attempting to revive it.
He requested the party workers and supporters to remain at the polling stations until the presiding officers provided Form-45 for the PPP candidates.
Reflecting on a past error, he highlighted that they had announced a break, intending to resume counting the next day, which proved to be a mistake. "But not this time,” he added.
He asked the supporters to sleep at the polling stations if they were not given the official results on the election day.
Bilawal reiterated that Nawaz wanted to rig the elections in other parts of the country like Multan and Khuzdar as well.
He reminded the political opponents that the PPP jiyalas should not be considered some ‘mummy-daddy’ type enthusiasts.
“They are the workers who fought against dictator Ziaul Haq in MRD (Movement for the Restoration of Democracy) and against Pervez Musharraf.”
Read more: PPP stands against elite rule: Bilawal
The PPP leader said Nawaz was not a tiger but a cat who was mistaken to believe that he could rob his mandate.
“If the mandate is snatched from the people of Mirpurkhas, we will go together to the ECP and we will snatch the voting results.”
He also criticised the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) as another facilitator of the PML-N.
He said Nawaz was thrice elected as the PM but he could never serve the people of Sindh owing to which he was reluctant to field his party’s candidates in the province.
“Therefore, he is looking for the candidates of the star (GDA’s election symbol) who will serve Lahore and Raiwand if elected.”
He asked his supporters to defeat all candidates contesting with the star symbol in the province.
“I like stars in the sky at night but not during the day.”
On Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s independent candidates, he reiterated that the people ought to understand that the upcoming polls were a one-on-one combat between the PPP and the PML-N.
لائیو: پاکستان پیپلزپارٹی کا ضلع تھرپارکر کی تحصیل چھاچھرو کے اسپورٹس کمپلکس گراؤنڈ میں انتخابی جلسہ عام https://t.co/z4qN1arMtk
— Pakistan Peoples Party - PPP (@PPP_Org) February 3, 2024
He said the votes cast in favour of the independent candidates would go to waste.
“If the people want to stop the tiger from becoming the PM for the fourth time, then there is only one way and it is to put a stamp on the arrow (PPP’s electoral symbol) on the election day. God willing, I will hunt that tiger with the arrow after winning the election.”
The PPP chairman announced that after winning the elections, his party’s government would connect Tharparkar to Karachi via railway link.
He recalled that his government first built roads followed by an airport in Islamkot, Tharparkar.
The new mode of communication between the desert region and the coastal metropolis would not only facilitate trade but also the movement of people, he believed.
Bilawal also challenged Nawaz’s claim of starting the Thar coal project, saying if he was really speaking the truth, then Nawaz would have been addressing the public meeting in Tharparkar instead of him.
In another popular promise to the electorate, he assured that he would “snatch” lands from the feudal lords if they were required to build houses for the flood-affected people of Sindh who would also be given ownership rights.
According to him, it would be easier for the government to build residential units and give ownership rights to women on the state-owned land.
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