Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that there was no extension in the original plan for the Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) project and that Prime Minister Imran Khan had himself given the permission for it.

His remarks come days the premier ordered an inquiry into the changes in the alignment of the RRR project, which not only increased the cost of the project by Rs25 billion but also allegedly benefited some private housing societies.

Speaking to the media in Charsadda while on a visit to pay respect over the passing of Begum Naseem Wali, the PML-N president said that the prime minister had earlier defended the decision on television as not impacting the environment and instead increasing connectivity.

"The point is, when (Prime Minister) Imran Khan himself gave permission so when noise was raised [against it] then [he] started taking U-turn and the characters [involved in the scandal] came in front."

He said the PML-N had raised its voice with great detail against the Ring Road scandal and now "the scandal and the characters [involved in it] have come in front [of everyone]."

Shehbaz added that planning for the project had been completed during his tenure in 2017/2018, its papers had been prepared and it had been approved "in principle". "The permission for the extension in this project was given by Prime Minister Imran Khan himself [...] the original Ring Road project had no extension in it."

The inquiry

According to a senior official of the Punjab government, the RRR case was referred to the National Accountability Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Department of Punjab for thorough investigations on the directive of Prime Minister Imran Khan after two separate fact-finding reports — one from the Rawalpindi commissioner and the other from the deputy commissioner and additional commissioner — had landed in his office.

The controversy over the project also saw the resignation of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari on Monday as SAPM on Overseas Pakistanis over the allegations levelled against him in the RRR project scam.

Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar also said that if corruption charges against him were proved he would quit politics and denied that he or his family had any links with the housing societies from which the government had acquired land for the project.

Govt's vaccination strategy

Shehbaz also lashed out at the government's vaccination campaign and strategy, alleging that the third wave of the coronavirus had wreaked havoc due to the "incompetence" of the government.

"They didn't even arrange vaccines," the PML-N president alleged, adding that the government should have procured vaccines from wherever possible before the third wave.

He added that when concerns about the vaccines or any other issue such as inflation or poverty were raised, the government only responded with 'chor daaku' (thieves and gangsters) in response. Shehbaz said that Pakistan had been left behind Bangladesh and other countries in the region with regards to vaccinations and "there are no injections today or any supervision."

He also touched upon the ongoing atrocities in Palestine and pointed out how children being martyred brought back memories of the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar carnage. "I think the APS event and how those kids were martyred will always be remembered in history and there is no difference in the scenes you see in Palestine."

Shehbaz also hailed the sacrifices of the Awami National Party and its members against terrorism and said that the province and people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had contributed immensely in combatting and eliminating terrorism and establishing peace.

He also praised Begun Naseem Wali as a "brave and courageous" woman, adding that she had promoted and enabled the participation of women in politics.