MIRPUR/BAGH – Prime Minister’s Advisor on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah Khan on Saturday said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) would continue working with the federal government on the same terms. He also urged voters in Poonch Division to support PML-N candidates in the third and final phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) general elections.
Addressing an election rally in Haveli, Rana Sanaullah said Kashmir is an inseparable part of Pakistan’s identity and no power could weaken the “invincible bond” between Kashmir and Pakistan. He said the PML-N needed six more seats to secure a two-thirds majority in the AJK Legislative Assembly and expressed confidence that four “lions” would be elected from the area in the scheduled polls.
Referring to the proscribed Jammu Kashmir Awami Action Committee (JAAC), the PML-N leader said many people associated with the organisation were “our brothers and patriots”, but alleged that some elements were pursuing someone else’s agenda. Without naming Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, he remarked that “those leading the countdown will eventually straighten themselves and their numbers will also be set right”, in an apparent reference to his political opponents.
Rana Sanaullah said a PML-N government in AJK would prioritise public issues and work to resolve longstanding problems of the region.
Criticising the PPP, he alleged that the party levelled rigging allegations whenever it lost an election. He urged voters to exercise their right responsibly and support candidates capable of ensuring development, good governance and resolution of public grievances, reiterating that Pakistan was incomplete without Kashmir and that the bond between the two could not be weakened by any force. Former Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) prime minister and senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Raja Muhammad Farooq Haider Khan has described the AJK state as a “critically ill patient” being kept alive through artificial means, asserting that only the PML-N has the ability to reform the existing system.
Addressing an appreciation rally from Chinary to Chakothi and later a reception at Gujjar Bandi in Hattian Bala on Saturday, Farooq Haider thanked voters of his constituency for supporting him in the recent election. He alleged that opponents had offered money and other incentives to voters during the campaign, but around 22,000 voters of LA-7 Jehlum Valley rejected such tactics and supported the PML-N’s political narrative and development agenda. He warned that the growing trend of “money politics” posed a serious threat to the future of the state.
