Metro53 - MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif on Sunday expressed his desire to become the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), while pledging an ambitious development programme if his party wins the upcoming elections.
Addressing an election rally in Muzaffarabad, the former prime minister said Azad Kashmir was "like a second home" to him and held the same importance as Punjab.
"I feel that if we win the election, I should ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to make me the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir," Nawaz Sharif remarked, drawing applause from party supporters.
He said that if the PML-N formed the government in AJK, he would personally visit the region every three months to review the progress of development projects and ensure that public issues were addressed.
The former premier said his party had never discriminated in development spending between Punjab, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the country's four provinces. He credited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with initiating key development projects in Punjab and said Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was completing those initiatives.
Nawaz Sharif said he had directed Maryam Nawaz to pursue similar development projects in Muzaffarabad and other parts of Azad Kashmir. He promised that, if elected, the PML-N government would introduce infrastructure projects comparable to those in Punjab, including the construction of a motorway along the Jhelum River.
He also claimed that during his tenure as prime minister, the AJK budget had been doubled, and pledged to increase it tenfold if the PML-N returned to power in the region.
Announcing further commitments, Nawaz Sharif said 10 green buses would arrive in Muzaffarabad within days, while 15 mobile hospitals would also be provided to improve healthcare services across Azad Kashmir.
Concluding his speech, he said the announced initiatives were only the beginning and reiterated that the implementation of his party's promises would depend on the outcome of the upcoming elections.
