LAHORE, July 6(ABC): Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique Wednesday announced that railway fares would be reduced by 30% on all three days of Eid ul Adha (July 10 to July 12).
Addressing a press conference in the federal capital, flanked by Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, the railway’s minister said that fares for all classes of all trains will be reduced by 30%.
Rafique, while commenting on the political developments in the country, said: “We have been carrying the whole burden of former prime minister Imran Khan’s sins although we know we have very less time [to resolve the issues].”
‘Era of curse’
The minister said that the coalition government is trying to pull the country out of the mess that the previous PTI-led government plunged the country into.
“Khan had wanted a different style of governance in the country under which he staged the drama of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and planned to get the then-opposition leaders arrested,” he said.
Rafique accused Khan of seeking the support of the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) “draconian laws”, but thanked Allah for taking Pakistan out of the “era of curse” through Khan’s ouster.
The federal minister also criticised the PTI for writing a letter to the Election Commission Pakistan (ECP) for the relief package provided to the people of Punjab by chief minister Hamza Shahbaz.
‘Coalition parties contesting by-polls together’
Acknowledging PPP for supporting the PML-N candidates in the by-poll of the 20 constituencies of Punjab, Rafique said that the coalition government has “put politics at stake” and has, instead, taken the charge of the economy.”
Speaking on the occasion, Kaira said that “no adventure” can be allowed under the current situation of the country as the coalition government is trying to handle the economy by taking tough decisions initially”.
“All coalition parties are contesting the by-polls of Punjab together,” he said, adding that by winning the elections “we wish to reply to the riots in the capital and the provinces.”