QWP chief accuses Federation of preferring Punjab to other provinces

BATKHELA: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Sherpao on Friday said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had preferred Punjab to other provinces as he was convinced that securing Punjab would guarantee him formation of government in the Centre.

Talking to reporters after offering Fateh over the demise of former federal minister Lal Muhammad Khan in Thana village, he said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had started exploitation of other provinces for strengthening his position in Punjab.

“Comparing Kalabagh dam to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is unjust,” he said, adding that inaugurating an ordinary road in Balochistan and projecting it as CPEC was a deception.

“The CPEC should have been designed to address the backwardness issue of all the provinces but the government allocated all major projects for Punjab which created a sense of deprivation among the smaller provinces,” he argued.

Aftab Sherpao said that thousands of Pakhtuns lost lives and industrial sectors suffered due to terrorism but the government did nothing for the province and its people.He said that a visible change had been noticed in the stance of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Awami National Party leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain who were present at the inaugural ceremony of the road in Zhob.

The QWP chief said the committee constituted in the All Parties Conference would soon hold a meeting with the prime minister and would convey their reservations to the federal government. He warned of launching a protest campaign if their reservations were not addressed.