‘Give respect to vote’ campaign becomes popular: Ahsan

KARACHI: In a part of its efforts to expand its influence in Karachi and prepare for the upcoming local government and general elections in Karachi, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) has succeeded in bringing Qadir Bakhsh Kalmati, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s district Malir’s (rural) president, an influential political figure from rural Karachi, into the party’s folds.

The PMLN Sindh leadership invited the party’s Central Secretary-General and former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal to attend the event in Gadap, where Kalmati along with notables of rural Malir formally announced to join the party.

“PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif’s “Give respect to vote” campaign has become the most popular slogan of the country and echoes in all the four provinces,” said Iqbal, adding: “If the dignity of individuals is to be restored in a society, the vote must be respected there.”

The PMLN leader said the progress of Bangladesh and India was made possible on the same basis. “In the past, we had lost half the country by not respecting the vote,” he said.

He said the PMLN in their governments had always served the people of all the four provinces without any discrimination. “After forming the government in 2013, the PMLN restored peace and eradicated terrorism all over the country by launching operations.”

Welcoming Kalmati and other notables into the party’s ranks, Iqbal said the PMLN had carried out mega projects in Sindh province, particularly in Karachi, in the past and would continue to do so in the future. “After gaining success in the future, Karachi would meet the water shortage by desalinating the sea water,” he said.

He said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and now the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were elected from Karachi but unfortunately all of them disappointed its residents. “We will be the ones to make it possible for the door-to-door supply of gas in Malir district,” he said.

PMLN Sindh President Shah Mohammad Shah said the important personalities in Sindh were keen to join the party. “Legs of the government are shaking now and the countdown to the overthrow of the government has begun,” he said.

PMLN Sindh Secretary General and former federal minister Dr Miftah Ismail said the inflation has reached the highest level in the country under the present government, where flour, ghee, rice, electricity and petrol have gone out of the purchasing power of the people.

He said wheat was being imported due to the wrong policies of the government. “For the first time in the last 30 years, there has been a sharp decline in cotton cultivation.

MNA Kheal Das Kohistani, senior leaders Nihal Hashmi, Khawaja Tariq Nazeer, Nasiruddin Mehmood, and others also spoke at the event.