SHANGLA: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said yesterday that he was the only politician in the country whose “hands were clean”. “There is no politician in any other political party whose hands are clean.

Their politics revolve around filling their pockets. I am the only politician who has been doing politics since the age of 19, since 2007, I was also the youngest foreign minister for 18 months,” Bilawal said while addressing a workers’ convention in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla.

“My hands are clean, even my opponents cannot say [anything]. Keeping your hands clean in Pakistani politics is difficult. There is no stain of corruption on my hands nor the blood of the country,” he said as he raised both his hands in the air.

“Instead of filling my own pockets, I want to fill your pockets, the pockets of the country’s labourers,” he said as he vowed to double the income of the common man in five years.

During his address, Bilawal also said that older politicians who he has criticised on several occasions in recent days were still practicing politics of hatred and division and were not concerned about the issues plaguing the people.

“We are the only party who will give you roti, kapra aur makaan (bread, clothes and shelter). We are the only party which says we do not have a political opponent our fight is with poverty, inflation and unemployment,” he said. “We do not know abusive politics, TikTok politics. And yes, we do not know the politics of Gate No 4 of GHQ,” he said.

“We have to introduce new politics where the people are served and the people are made stronger,” he said. Bilawal said that he had learned from his elders to believe in the power of the people. He said that Pakistan was passing through a difficult time but the PPP had a five-year plan to bring the country out of crisis. Bilawal also promised to introduce a programme for the country’s youth and to further develop the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).

He said PPP would represent the people by becoming their voice and would do their best to ease the lives of the common man.

The former FM said he had been trained to have a clear vision and mission, adding that his only purpose was to work for the country and its people in order to bring a positive change in their lives. Bilawal also challenged other politicians to find even “a single rupee” of corruption against him. “I do not know politics of corruption,” he said.

Published in The Daily National Courier, December, 08 2023

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