Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the Langarwala Pattan-Sahiwal bridge in Sargodha

Lahore : Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the Langarwala Pattan-Sahiwal high-level bridge at Jhelum River in Sargodha on Wednesday. He also inspected the bridge and appreciated the high construction standards.

The Chief Minister was told that an amount of Rs. 3 billion has been spent on this 2100 feet long bridge which will interconnect 27 lakh population of Sargodha and Khushab districts. Distance between adjoining areas including Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali and Bhakkar has been sufficiently decreased due to the construction of this vital connectivity. It is expected that new bridge will also boost socio-economic activities and access to hospitals and educational institutions will become easier now.

Addressing the large public gathering at Sahiwal Tehsil stadium in Sargodha afterwards, the Chief Minister said that this mammoth public presence in the holy month of Ramadan in hot weather shows that the upcoming election belongs to Pakistan Muslim League-N. He said that Muhammad Nawaz Sharif promised in 2013 that darkness of load-shedding will be removed and it is the infinite blessing of Almighty Allah that the PML-N government worked very hard to cope with the energy crisis and federal as well as the Punjab governments made an investment of many hundred billion rupees in the energy projects. Electricity generation projects were also set up under the CPEC, he added. During the tenure of PML-N government, electricity generation projects of ten thousand megawatts capacity have been set up and electricity is being provided to the whole of the country, he said. He said the duration of load-shedding was very long in 2010; now in spite of shenanigans of the opponents, power projects are generating electricity for the nation. 1180 megawatts electricity is being provided from Bhikki Power Plant while Haveli Bahadur Shah Gas Power Plant is producing 1250 megawatt electricity. Similarly, Baloki Plant is providing 1250 megawatts electricity to the nation. Meanwhile, Sahiwal Coal Power Plant and Port Qasim Plant are generating a total of 2640 megawatts electricity. The new projects are fulfilling the electricity generation gap resulting due to less water in dams and decrease in hydro power generation. He said that basic reason of twice nation-wide tripping was fault in the transmission lines and it was not resulted due to lack of electricity.

The Chief Minister said that Punjab government has returned the right of the farmers by decreasing fertilizers’ prices and colossal subsidy has also been provided by federal and Punjab governments. On the other side, thousands of kilometers long carpeted roads have been constructed in villages with an amount of Rs. 85 billion. Farmers are getting cheap electricity due to decrease in electricity rates for agri. tube-wells, he added. He said that stipends worth Rs. 17 billion have been distributed among bright but deserving students during the last nine years under the PEEF program. Along with it, interest-free loans to the tune of Rs. 40 billion have been distributed among jobless youth and as a result, more than two million people have started earning. He said that PML-N government has carried out numerous welfare projects adding that development schemes are a proof of our public service. Today, opponents claimed to unveil the 100-day program by becoming the next Prime Minister of Pakistan; but Niazi Sahib, you have developed no new institution in the KPK and the fact is that you have even failed to perform. If an opportunity is granted after the elections, new hospital and university will be established in every district, he added.

The Chief Minister said that juggler Zardari and Niazi have joined hands adding that he was deeply saddened to witness the dilapidated condition of Karachi and rest of the Sindh province during his previous visits. Then I commented that Zardari used to say that he will even die but will not surrender Sindh; but he actually means that he will not work at all. Niazi Sahib staged sit-ins and lockdown but he immediately rushed to the mountainous area when dengue attacked there. In fact, Imran Khan has totally devastated the KPK while claiming to make one Pakistan. Niazi Sahib, you will not do anything. You had said that you will not construct jangla bus in Peshawar and instead, colleges and educational institutions will be constructed but you have failed to perform anything sanely and failed to set up new colleges and universities. Work is started on jangla bus now and for that purpose, whole of the city of Peshawar has been dug. Earlier, Niazi used to ridicule Lahore metro bus by terming it as jangla bus but now the project has been started in Peshawar. It is pity that bus is seen nowhere around in Peshawar nor or there any passengers. Niazi claimed that Rs. 70 billion were spent on Lahore metro bus. I clarified that only Rs. 30 billion were spent and the budget of Peshawar metro bus has soared to Rs. 70 billion. The people will never give votes to the liar and the one who remained involved in name-calling in the next elections and they will only vote to those who have served them. He asked the people to vote for PML-N to defeat India in socio-economic fields adding that we have to leave Modi behind. Both Niazi and Zardari are liars; one has devastated KPK province while other has mal-administered Karachi. The people have to bury their politics irretrievably and have to bring the PML-N at the forefront, he added.

The Chief Minister announced that technical university will be set up in Sargodha if people elected the PML-N in next elections and another university will also be established in Khushab district. He said that Khan Sahib claimed to provide one crore jobs and added that it is another hollow claim as like the previous statements. Khan Sahib promised to provide electricity to KPK and the whole of the country but they have failed to provide even the single kilowatt electricity to the KPK. The people will defeat those who staged sit-ins, he said. On the other side, Zardari Sahib occasionally visits Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi by wearing waist coat. Currently, he has gone to Dubai. Zardari has plundered 6.5 billion rupees of this nation and this amount is struck up in Swiss banks. This amount belongs to some of the poorest people, he added. This amount of Zardari Sahib has to be retuned back. If NAB has to serve then it should bring back this money of Zardari. This money should be handed over to the nation and Zardari should be held accountable for it. If the corrupt person is not held accountable then Pakistan will not move forward, he maintained. The country will become the Pakistan of Quaid and Iqbal when indiscriminate accountability of the corrupt will be carried out. Shehbaz Sharif said that he will work hard for national prosperity till his last breath adding that Pakistan has to be moved forward to beat neighboring India. We shall work hard to make Pakistan a great country in the comity of nations, concluded the Chief Minister.