LAHORE, Dec 2: Irked by the recent media campaign of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, the PML-N Punjab government held a press conference here on Sunday to counter the ‘propaganda’ of development projects of the previous regime.

PML-N spokesman Senator Pervaiz Rashid, while criticising former chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, said the previous government deserved medal for ‘corruption’ and ‘incomplete’ projects.

He said like other projects, Pervaiz Elahi also left Quran Academy incomplete and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was getting it completed speedily.

Provincial Auqaf Minister Ehsanuddin Qureshi and Quran Board chairman Ghulam Muhammad Sialvi were also present.

The spokesman said the ‘lie’ of the deputy prime minister had reached even Egypt which he had mentioned in his advertisement.

He said Pervaiz Elahi had been raising slogan of electing Musharraf 10 times in uniform and now he was publishing false advertisements in newspapers for electing Zardari.

He said the former CM fixed plaques of his name on various projects but left them incomplete and for a number of such projects, payments were made to the contractors who fled abroad.

He said the present government completed within shortest period projects like Lahore-Kasur Road, Lahore Ring Road and Thokhar Niaz Beg overhead bridge which were left incomplete by Pervaiz Elahi.

The senator claimed that the photographs of Quran Board and Seerat Academy being shown in the advertisement by the ex-CM had been downloaded from internet. He also showed to the journalists the photos of incomplete and complete building of the academy as a proof.

He said the present government legislated the Punjab Quran Printing and Recording Act in 2011 under which publication of the Holy Quran on substandard and poor quality paper had been prohibited. In addition, four big wells had been constructed for conservation of the worn-out copies of the Holy Quran.

The auqaf minister said the ‘wrong’ ad about Quran Complex and Seerat Academy was a nefarious attempt to incite religious sentiments, therefore, it’s considered necessary to convey ‘facts’ to the masses through the media.

He said a counter-ad could have been given but as this matter related to the Holy Quran, they considered it inappropriate to use it for personal or political interests.

Sialvi alleged that Pervaiz Elahi during his tenure got approved the Women Protection Act which was against the teachings of Quran and Sunnah and made corruption of 55 years in five years and left the projects incomplete. Shahbaz Sharif completed all these projects within a record time, he said.