F.P. Report
LAHORE: Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja has taken notice of an attack on the office of Pakistan People’s Party in Lahore after PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly condemned the incident.
An Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) spokesman said on Saturday that the Commission has ordered registration of an FIR on the PPP’s complaint. The ECP has issued to inspector general police Punjab in this regard, the spokesman added.
Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto strongly condemned violent attacks on PPP election candidates in Lahore and Karachi, saying Jiyalas will “respond” on February 8. Bilawal Bhutto said the PPP is not going to be intimidated by these cheap tactics.
In a post uploaded on X platform early Saturday, the PPP chairman condemned the attack on the PPP election office in Lahore and the firing at the party’s corner meeting in Karachi.
He said “Targeting the election office of PP-162 candidate Manzar Abbas Khokhar with a petrol bomb in Lahore is open terrorism.”
Bilawal Bhutto accused the Lahore police of lacking neutrality by not registering the FIR of the attack on the election office of the provincial candidate of his constituency NA-127 in Stokatla.
The PPP chairman further said that shots were fired at the corner meeting of Jiyala candidate Agha Rafiullah in Malir Gulshan area of Karachi. He expressed his best wishes for the early recovery of two Jiyalas and two supporters who were injured in the firing at the corner meeting of NA-230 candidate Agha Rafiullah.
Targeting the election campaign of Pakistan People’s Party candidates in Lahore and Karachi is a matter of serious concern for the party, Bilawal said and added, disappointed by the expected PPP victory the political opponents have resorted to new tactics.
Bilawal Bhutto maintained “People of Pakistan People’s Party are not going to be afraid and panicked. The people will respond to the dirty tactics on February 8.”
Meanwhile, addressing a public rally at Rahim Yar Khan on Friday evening, Bilawal Bhutto pledged to implement the PPP 10-point agenda for the nation in letter and spirit once he is voted to power by the people. He also promised to allocate Rs300 billion for the welfare of the public instead of spending this staggering amount on 17 ministries.
He highlighted the key points of the PPP manifesto, saying 17 ministries will be abolished to save Rs300 billion for the public. He vowed to redirect Rs1,500 billion given to the elite in the wake of subsidy toward the public.
The second point on the agenda highlighted the plan to abolish subsidies for the elite class.
Bilawal underscored the party’s commitment to increasing the income of the people as the first promise, and the second assurance to provide 300 units of free electricity through solar power. “At least 3 million climate homes to be built and women heads of household to get legal titles of the property,” he said, adding katchi-abadis will be regularised and inhabitants to get ownership.
The PPP leader said that the PPP is a party representing the common man and is a potent force against poverty, unemployment, and hunger.
He also shared his plans to assist the youth, saying they would be helped by the state through the “youth card” if the PPP managed to make the government in the center.
Bilawal also announced the launching of a program at the Union Council level to eradicate hunger in the country. He said the PPP would ensure schooling for all girls and boys of school-going age and implement Article 25-A of the Constitution in letter and spirit.
