Bilawal criticises PML-N over portraying public buses as personal gifts, urges AJK voters to back PPP

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday criticised the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) for portraying publicly funded buses as personal gifts, as he made a final appeal to voters in Mirpur Division to support the party’s ‘arrow’ symbol in the first phase of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly elections held on Monday (tomorrow).

“These buses are not anyone’s gift; they are the people’s right,” Bilawal said in a special message issued from Islamabad on the eve of polling.

Asserting that the PPP had delivered practical development rather than merely making promises, he criticised what he described as politically timed development announcements, saying projects financed through taxpayers’ money should not be portrayed as personal gifts by political leaders.

Launching a political attack on the PML-N, Bilawal said the people of “Kashmir and Kashmore, Mirpur and Mirpur Khas” shared the same spirit of defending their rights and would not allow anyone to undermine their claim over their land or future.

He claimed that just as the PML-N had been rejected by voters in previous elections in Kashmir and Kashmore, the electorate would repeat that verdict in the current polls.

Bilawal described the election as a referendum on the rights, development and future of AJK.

He urged voters to give the PPP a strong mandate, pledging that the party would not compromise on the rights of the people of AJK and would continue its struggle to secure what he described as the rights of sovereignty, ownership and employment for Kashmiris.

“The people of Mirpur sacrificed their homes and land for the Mangla Dam and it is because of those sacrifices that much of Pakistan was electrified,” he said.

“No one can deny that the people of AJK have an equal stake in the region’s resources, decisions and future,” Bilawal said, adding that Pakistan owed a debt to Mirpur for its sacrifices rather than doing it a favour.

Read: Bilawal vows to protect AJK rights, accuses PML-N of pursuing ‘anti-Kashmir’ agenda

He argued that the people of AJK should enjoy the same fundamental rights as every Pakistani citizen, including what he termed the rights of sovereignty, ownership and employment.

Bilawal also called for the immediate establishment of a dedicated compensation fund for those affected by the recent violence, saying such measures would help restore public confidence and normalcy.

He concluded by urging voters in Mirpur Division to stamp the arrow symbol and vote for development, prosperity and the protection of the rights of the people of Azad Kashmir.