Shehbaz mocks Bilawal over using 'cards like football referee' for election vows

Continuing a wordy duel with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief ahead of general polls, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif mocked Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for promising to introduce different cards for kisan and labourers “like a referee of a football match” in election rallies.

All political parties equipped with mollifying manifestos and promises continued their election campaigns Sunday across the country ahead of the nationwide polls — scheduled for February 8. PML-N and PPP are eyeing the premier’s office and desperately swaying voters to elect them to power.

Shehbaz, in his address during a rally in Sialkot, Shehbaz claimed that the “lion” would roar on the February 8 nationwide polls, while the political rivals would hold "mourning processions" after suffering crushing blows.

Aiming the PPP chairman, he said a politician was showcasing different cards for kisan and labourers in his election rallies as if he were a "referee of a football match".

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif will become the prime minister for the fourth time to restart the development era and rivals will see their defeat on February 8, predicted Shehbaz.

Responding to allegations, the former premier asked his opponents whether PML-N was staging rallies in a room in Sialkot today.

He said that his party unveiled its manifesto yesterday and the youth was looking towards Nawaz. The politico vowed to establish an IT university in Sialkot besides working efficiently for the betterment of youth’s education and vocational training on modern lines.

Addressing the PML-N workers during the same rally, three-time prime minister, Nawaz, said Sialkot was the city of loyalists and the most loyal person in the city, Khawaja Asif, was standing with him whose father had given him political training.

Nawaz vowed to get the country back on its feet with hard work and dedication besides promising to start the Lahore-Sialkot train service and reconstruct the city’s motorway and easy loan programmes for youth if voted to power.

For her part, PML-N Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz said the 'lion' would ensure the country's progress. "Sialkot is the only city where Nawaz Sharif has campaigned twice this time around."

With the party supremo back in Pakistan after nearly four years of exile, the PML-N believes it has got a much-needed boost — given the dismal performance during the 16-month tenure of the coalition government, headed by Shehabz.

The party has fielded 208 candidates for the 266 National Assembly general seats up for grabs. Meanwhile, overall for the five legislatures, the PML-N has issued 671 tickets out of the 859 seats.