Countries around us reached the Moon but Pakistan not rising from the Earth: Nawaz Sharif
Lahore, Dec 21: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has held the military establishment responsible for the country's economic woes, saying the countries around us have reached the Moon but Pakistan is not rising from the Earth.
"Pakistan has been stuck in difficulties. We go two steps forward and then 10 steps backwards this has been happening for the last 75 years. Who is responsible for this?" the 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo questioned, indirectly referring to the powerful military.
He was addressing the parliamentary board meeting here on Wednesday.
Referring to India, Sharif said: "The countries around us have reached the Moon while we could not rise from the Earth who is responsible for this?"
Early this week, Sharif had said neither India nor the United States are behind Pakistan's miseries. "No one else but we are responsible for our downfall as we shot ourselves in the foot."
On Thursday, the three-time former premier spoke to his party's minority members here and lauded their contributions for the development of the country.
"There were many comrades of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah who played their part in making Pakistan," he said, adding that a national leader does not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion. He said the minority community is Pakistan's asset.
Sharif reiterated that those who drove Pakistan into an unprecedented crisis and made the lives of Pakistanis unbearably miserable should be made accountable.
He would often hold former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and ex-ISI chief Gen Faiz Hamid and two former chief justices of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa responsible for Pakistan's woes. He said they ousted him from power in 2017 and imposed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supremo Imran Khan on the nation.
"Unimaginable damage has been done to his country and those responsible for it will not go unaccounted for," he declared.
Sharif, the only Pakistani politician who became the prime minister of the coup-prone country for a record three times, returned to Pakistan in October after a four-year self-imposed exile to lead his party in the general elections. He has been receiving PM-designate protocol with the blessings of the military.
Besides, all his corruption cases in which he was convicted have been set aside after the Islamabad High Court has given him a clean chit.
The PTI alleges that under the 'London Plan' Nawaz Sharif will be made the Prime Minister following the February 8 polls with the blessing of the military establishment under Army Chief Gen Asim Munir and Imran Khan and his party will be crushed.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
