TOBA TEK SINGH: PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has announced launching the Orange Line metro train project in Faisalabad if his party wins the election as the people of the city want to have the metro train service like that of Lahore.

He said Shehbaz Sharif had already announced the plan to launch a metrobus service in the city but he would give them the gift of metro train.

The former prime minister was addressing a public meeting at the historical Dhobi Ghat Ground in Faisalabad, one of the main industrial cities of Punjab, on Friday. The ground has had a long political history, starting with the address of Quid-i-Azam on it in 1943 when the city was called Lyallpur.

Nawaz Sharif criticised the PTI for its failure to fulfil promises of providing jobs to 10m people or one billion trees tsunami and made a pledge that after coming to power, the PML-N government would provide every jobless person with employment. He said if his government had not been removed, he would have eliminated unemployment from the country. He asked Shehbaz Sharif to make Faisalabad a city with no jobless person in the next five years after winning the elections.

Takes dig at Imran for not fulfilling his election commitments; Maryam terms city’s industry imperative for country’s progress

In a light way, the PML-N leader said two motorways (M-3 and M-4) bypass Faisalabad but if people of Faisalabad wanted another motorway, he would build another one passing all around the city. Taking a dig at Imran Khan, Mr Sharif said he knew how to fulfil promises he was making and added that he was not like those who claimed that they would build 5m houses but could not provide a single one.

Praising his party’s Punjab chief Rana Sanaullah Khan, who belongs to Faisalabad, Nawaz Sharif called him his faithful companion while Chaudhry Sher Ali (Abid Sher Ali’s father) and Talal Chaudhry were also his old buddies. He claimed the real youth of the country was not with the PTI that had only ‘mummy daddy youth’ but the actual youth was with his party.

The PML-N supreme leader reminded his supporters of the rates of commodities during his party’s tenure and announced that the same circumstances would return like his past tenure.

He said when the PTI was doing the politics of protests, his government was busy in eliminating power loadshedding, terrorism and providing metro buses. He congratulated the people who came in such large numbers in the Faisalabad public meeting and that they had announced the verdict of victory in favour of the PML-N on Feb 8.

PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz also praised Rana Sanaullah and Talal Chaudhry for standing by the party in hard times. She lauded Mr Sanaullah for his political manoeuvres that removed their political rival out of the contest.

She termed the industry in Faisalabad imperative for the progress of the country. She claimed that PML-N never did politics of blame-game and used abuses against its opponents instead it believed in serving the people. She said NS was removed from power three times but he never put at stake national security.

Both Nawaz Sharif and Maryam made short speeches on the excuse of the time shortage. Nawaz was in a light mood and cracked jokes too. He added Punjabi sentences too in his speech. Rana Sanaullah, Abid Sher Ali and Talal Chaudhry were on the stage when the PML-N leaders spoke.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2024