Arrangements are in full swing in Lahore as the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is gearing up for the planned long march against the government.
The long march will enter the federal capital on March 27 – the same day when the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) was also planning to hold a public rally at D-Chowk ahead of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The arrangements for the long march were being done at PML-N Secretariat in Model Town, where Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly and PML-N Vice President Hamza Shehbaz is chairing marathon meetings to make the power show successful. So far, he has held meetings with PML-N MPAs from Lahore, the party’s women lawmakers, labour wing and youth wing leaders.
On Sunday, Hamza held a meeting with the minority wing of the party led by MPA Khalil Tahir Sandhu at Model Town. He directed the minority wing of the party to make the long march successful. Moreover, the party’s media wing also got active as PML-N Punjab’s Information Secretary MPA Uzma Bukhari chaired a meeting of all the information secretaries of each district. She directed the media wing to ensure proper coverage of the long march on social media.
According to the plan issued by the PML-N, the caravan will leave the party’s Model Town secretariat at 1:00pm on March 24. The rallies from Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Okara and Kasur will join the caravan at Model Town. The rallies from northern Lahore will join the caravan at Data Darbar, while participants from Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahab will join at Shahdara. The rallies from Faisalabad, TT Singh, Jhang and Chiniot will join the caravan at Kala Shah Kaku interchange, while participants from Narowal will join at Muridke. The marchers will have a night’s stay at Gujranwala city. It will once again proceed on March 25 when it will be joined by the participants of adjoining districts of Hafizabad and Sialkot. District Mandi Bahaudin will join the march at Gujrat City. The marchers will have a night’s stay at Sarai-i-Alamgir after passing through Gujrat and Lala Musa. It will once again proceed on March 26 March from Jehlum at 1:00pm. The participants from the Chakwal district will join the march at Gujar Khan. The night’s stay will be at Rawalpindi, where rallies from Attock district, Sargodha division, Multan division, DG Khan division, and Bahawalpur division will join the march before entering the federal capital.
“Both Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz will lead the march towards Islamabad,” said PML-N Punjab General Secretary Sardar Awais Laghari. He was addressing a press conference at Model Town on Sunday.
He said that the long march would be a historic event, adding that it will be joined by other districts too while passing through the GT Road. He was of the view that the government was trying to escape from the voting on the no-trust motion against Imran Khan; therefore, delaying tactics were being used. “The government should hold the voting on no-trust motion immediately to judge its popularity,” Laghari stressed.
