Success in politics comes through performance: PM to opponents

MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday arrived in Muzaffarabad for thanking the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) for voting his party to power with sweeping majority in yesterday's polls.

The prime minister addressed a mammoth rally in Muzaffarabad after more than two months, at which his supporters were seen in a celebratory mood over landslide win of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) who donned party flags welcoming the premier.

The PML-N swept the AJK Legislative Assembly election held on Thursday bagging 31 seats out of a total of 41. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muslim Conference secured three seats each, followed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with two seats to its credit. The Jammu Kashmir Pakistan People’s Party got one seat, while an independent candidate also emerged victorious in Thursday's election.

PM Nawaz, in his address with the people, thanked party activists for clean sweep in the election. He urged them to remember the martyrs of held Kashmir on this joyous occasion.

He said the Kashmiris' struggle for freedom in Indian occupied Kashmir cannot be contained, adding,"We await the day of Kashmir's accession to Pakistan".

The PM said that he is as much a Kashmiri as a Pakistani and promised to work extensively for establishing schools and universities in Azad Kashmir.

Taking exception to his opponents, Nawaz Sharif questioned the crowd how much seats have been secured by the ones announcing an anti-government drive. He said those doing negative politics in Pakistan also came to Azad Kashmir, but hats off to the people here who showed the door to them.

The prime minister asked the opponents to get an idea, from election results, of what kind of campaign they would be running against the government.

He added that success in politics comes through performance, not by staging sit-ins.

This was the first public gathering addressed by the premier in more than two months since he underwent a cardiac surgery in London. The last public rally he addressed was in D.I. Khan after which he left for London for an open-heart surgery.

Interestingly, the PTI Chairman Imran Khan felicitated the PML-N for the massive win in AJK elections. The PPP, however, alleged that the polls were rigged.