Kashmir runs in my blood: Maryam Nawaz vows Punjab-style development for AJK

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday pledged to replicate Punjab's development model in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), urging voters to elect the party in the upcoming general elections

MIRPUR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jul, 2026) Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday pledged to replicate Punjab's development model in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), urging voters to elect the party in the upcoming general elections. Addressing a massive election rally at Quaid-e-Azam International cricket Stadium in Mirpur, she described Kashmir as an integral part of her identity, saying, "Kashmir runs through my blood because I am Kashmiri by ancestry from both my maternal and paternal sides." PML-N President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also addressed the gathering alongside the party's candidates contesting from all 13 Constituencies of Mirpur Division.

Maryam Nawaz said AJK possessed immense natural beauty, abundant resources and talented people but had been deprived of sustained development due to the absence of a PML-N government. She said the enthusiastic public turnout despite the intense heat reflected growing confidence in the party and expressed optimism that the PML-N would secure a decisive victory in the July 27 elections. Calling Mirpur her ancestral home, she acknowledged the city's modern housing developments but said its deteriorating roads and civic infrastructure highlighted years of neglect that required urgent attention.

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Promising a new era of progress, the Punjab chief minister announced that a future PML-N government in AJK would introduce Punjab-style welfare and development initiatives, including improved healthcare, education, housing, transport and social protection programmes. She said 10 modern electric buses had already been allocated for Mirpur ahead of the elections and pledged to launch Safe City projects, the "Apni Chhat, Apna Ghar" housing scheme, mobile hospitals and welfare programmes such as the Rashan Card, Himmat Card and Kisan Card. She also reiterated Nawaz Sharif's commitment to building an airport in the region and said the project would be completed.

Highlighting the PML-N government's performance in Punjab, Maryam Nawaz said transparent governance and effective leadership had transformed the province over the past two-and-a-half years, benefiting hundreds of thousands of people through public welfare initiatives. She argued that similar progress could be achieved in AJK within a single five-year term if voters entrusted the PML-N with power. Urging the electorate to vote wisely, she said the outcome of the elections would determine whether AJK moved towards lasting prosperity and modern development.

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