‘Lies and filthy attacks’: Govt hits back at PDM's Gujranwala jalsa

After the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) first power show in Gujranwala, the government reacted to the protest demonstration by hitting back at Opposition leaders on Friday.

Read more: Gujranwala power show: PDM leaders tell PM Imran Khan to count his days in power

PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman were present at the jalsa, while people intermittently chanted slogans "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif" and "go, Niazi, go!"

Reacting to the protest, Federal Minister on Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said that the meeting in Gujranwala and the formation of the PDM is proof that only Prime Minister Imran Khan is standing tall against the status quo.

Read more: PDM jalsa: Live updates for Opposition's first show of power against PTI govt in Gujranwala

“Imran Khan and the people are on one side and the corrupt mafia is on the other side,” the minister wrote on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the minister on Science and technology took a jibe at the new alliance of opposition political parties sharing a picture of him along with other PTI ministers watching a cricket match as the opposition chanted slogans and protested against the PTI-led government.

"Watching Cricket Highlights #Relaxing #BechariOpposition," the minister said in a tweet.

Terming the speeches and accusations made by opposition leaders at the rally as "new low and classlessness", the premier's aide on Overseas Pakistan and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari chastised PPP Chairman Bilawal for what he referred to as the Bhutto scion's "filthy attacks" during the PDM jalsa.

"Don’t blame Bilawal... if his parents didn’t make money off massive corruption he’d still be selling tickets like daddy at a cinema today. That’s the lineage he’s shown today with all his lies & filthy attacks," the minister lambasted in a tweet.

Similarly, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, Ali Zaidi shared a video clip from Bilawal's address as he criticised the PPP leader.

Federal minister Zartaj Gul Wazir tweeted a picture of PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto, referring to him as a 'pygmy'.

Calling out the PPP chairman for his accusations and his "harsh language", the special assistant to the prime minister on political communication said: "The vulgar language used by Bilawal today has [proved] that if 10% of the people will raise children, then those children will grow up and will speak such filthy things about the women of the country".

"Bilawal has revealed his true nature. As well as the 'lifafas' that call him liberal," he said in a tweet.

The Opposition parties' Pakistan Democratic Movement staged its first mass contact campaign in Gujranwala on Friday as a show of strength against the incumbent PTI government which they say has "failed the people in all sectors".

The alliance was given permission to hold the rally on Thursday by the government after the Gujranwala District Administration and the PDM reached a 28-point agreement on how the jalsa would be held.