Daily Times

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Saturday that he did not desire power, insisting that he wanted to only provide rights to the poor.

Addressing a rally in Uch Sharif, Bilawal said he was not competing against any individual or political organisation. “My fight is against poverty and injustice. Our government will distribute ration cards among the poor,” he said, adding that his party’s government had created many jobs for the youth but it was still being criticised by its detractors for not constructing a metro project. “Let the people decide if they want jobs or metros,” he said.

Bilawal’s convoy stopped by Punjab Police

Earlier, Bilawal’s convoy was stopped by a team of the Police Department while it was on its way to Uch Sharif. According to the police, the convoy had wanted to make a stop at the shrine of Syed Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari which was not mentioned in the route plan shared with them by the campaign team.

Speaking to Daily Times, Bahawalpur RPO Rana Faisal said that the PPP chairman’s convoy was stopped at Chowk Azam for security reasons. He said the security escort accompanying him for not as per the directives issued for the security of political leaders.

Subsequently, the PPP campaign team contacted the Election Commission of Pakistan and directives were issued to let Bilawal proceed with his journey after a delay of one-and-a-half hour.

PPP chairman’s spokesman Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar was quoted in the media as saying, “I conveyed to the DSP that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto is the head of a political party and under relevant electoral laws, he cannot be stopped from campaigning in any part of the country.”

Further, Bahawalpur DPO Dr Iqbal Malik said Bilawal then visited the shrine, and offered prayers before leaving for the cotton factory of former MNA Ali Hassan Gillani on Ahmadpur Road, where he addressed the gathering.

Published in Daily Times, July 8^th 2018.