A fresh war of words erupted between Punjab and Sindh ministers on Saturday, as tensions simmered over the federal government's controversial canals project - just a day after PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari denounced the scheme as "unilateral".
Speaking to the media in Lahore, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari hit back at Bilawal, saying his rally rhetoric offered no real solution.
"If he can make time to huddle with the federal government over provincial budgets," she quipped, "then he should also roll up his sleeves to address the canal issue."
Doubling down, Bukhari pointed out that the project had already crossed the red tape with presidential consent.
"It is documented, it is signed," she stressed, making it clear that the groundwork had official backing.
Accusing the PPP of playing politics with water, she called the move "unfortunate" and questioned Bilawal's choice of stage.
"Bilawal Bhutto shouldn't be speaking about water solutions while standing at rallies," she said. "Before making accusations, check the facts. This is canal politics," she asserted.
Sindh ministers
Meanwhile, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro responded strongly to Bukhari's remarks regarding the controversial canal projects.
Speaking to reporters in Karachi, Shoro said, "We are not politicising the issue. The people of Sindh and the PPP have one position: No to the controversial canals. Sindh's people are protesting, and you call it politics?"
He said Bilawal had warned the federal government that if the decision was not reversed, PPP would stand with the people, not with Shehbaz Sharif.
"Azma Bukhari doesn't even understand the ABC of the water issue. Instead of defending the project, the PML-N should bury it permanently," he said.
Shoro said that Sindh was facing acute water shortages, not just for agriculture, but also for drinking water. "Our lands are barren, our farmers worried, and our livestock thirsty."
He urged PM Shehbaz Sharif to reject the controversial canal projects outright and called for an immediate meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to permanently shelve the plan.
"If the PM does not end this project, the PPP will go to any extent with the people of Sindh to stop it. The entire irrigation system of Sindh depends on the Indus River," he said.
Similarly, reacting to the Punjab minister's remarks, Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon questioned her understanding of the president's constitutional powers.
"Have you [Bokhari] read the Constitution? Do you know how to read the Constitution?" Memon said sharply during a media talk in Karachi.
He further questioned where it was stated in the Constitution that the president had the authority to approve such development projects.
"If the federal government has sent it to the president for approval, then that was an incompetent step," he added.
"It is not his mandate, we are tired of telling you this a 100 times," Memon said, stressing that the federal government had not followed the correct procedural route.
"If you have the documents of approval, then you should be able to bring the fabricated minutes of the meeting," he continued.
Addressing the perception that the PPP had not publicly stated its intention to leave the coalition government if its concerns were not addressed, Memon responded, "When did we say we would announce it on somebody's behest?"
"He [Bilawal] said we are with the people, we are not with the Shehbaz government," Memon said, quoting the PPP chairman.
The Green Pakistan Initiative, with an estimated cost of $3.3 billion, aims to construct six canals to irrigate 1.2 million acres of arid land in southern Punjab. However, the project has met growing resistance - first from Sindhi nationalist groups and now from the PPP itself.
Five of the canals are planned on the Indus River, while the sixth will be built along the Sutlej River, intended to supply around 4,120 cusecs of water to the Cholistan desert region in Punjab.
'Chaos party'
During her talk in Lahore, Bukhari also took a swipe at political opponents, especially PTI, saying, "The YouTubers and the chaos party can't stomach Pakistan's relief. Those who had ties with IPPs and power companies are now making noise."
She added that Punjab's government was grateful to PM Shehbaz for containing the sharp rise in electricity bills.
"The season of good news has begun, and those who once wrote letters to the IMF are the ones disturbed by this progress," Bukhari said in a veiled reference to PTI.
She accused past PTI policies of attempting to derail the IMF programme and "turn the country into Sri Lanka," a plan she said Shehbaz Sharif successfully foiled.
Turning her guns towards Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), Bukhari said, "K-P's massive corruption is no secret, even their own leaders are telling the stories. The YouTubers and media can't ignore the circus of 'chor chor'".
She questioned CM K-P Ali Amin Gandapur's declaration of Rs100 million income while claiming he spent Rs750 million on the party. "Were those illegal funds used for party work?" she asked.
She alleged Rs8.66 billion worth of damage to forests in Chitral, and said KP lacked schools and medicines. "Records show the K-P health department purchased Rs20.8 million worth of gloves, yet they're missing from hospitals. Rs130 million was spent by district health hospitals with no record of it," she said.
She also accused the K-P government of massive corruption in wheat procurement and alleged that Rs2 billion were disbursed to party workers under the guise of mosque funds.
She claimed that Gandapur's position as CM is in danger as "his own party calls him corrupt".
She rejected the notion that a party's internal committee could audit misuse of public funds, stressing only NAB or relevant authorities can do so. "Their own leaders, including Swati, Junaid Akbar and Asad Qaiser, are talking about each other's corruption. Who will answer for it?" she asked.
Bukhari demanded the federal government account for Rs600 billion meant for law and order. "There's no CTD in K-P. Don't issue threatswe're not afraid. First show where the money went before talking NFC," she said.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ