ISLAMABAD – PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan plans on making Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) a new province of Pakistan, insisting that “a decision has already been taken in this regard.”

AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider had raised similar concerns during a session of the AJK Legislative Assembly last month, and remarked that the region would not become a province until “the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir decides to do so through vote.”

In her address to a public meeting in Dhirkot today, Maryam said PM Imran wanted to bring a “puppet PM” to power in Kashmir in order to impose his decisions on people but warned that “the PML-N will not allow this.”

She also lambasted the government over its much used slogan of bringing “Tabdeeli” (change) to Pakistan, saying any change the government actually ended up bringing was “destruction”.

She alleged that the prime minister’s rally in AJK yesterday was organised through taxpayers’ money, also saying that the ruling party couldn’t even gather enough people to call it a public gathering.

She said there were talks of “minus Nawaz Sharif”, but the people of Pakistan had reversed the narrative in favour of the PML-N leader. “I can safely declare that this is a revolution as people have converged here in large numbers and Nawaz Sharif has clearly won and his enemy has been defeated,” she added.

Maryam said the PML-N campaign was so strong that PM Imran had to personally pay AJK a visit. “He (the prime minister) thought of initiating his campaign from Kashmir Bagh to match the popularity of the PML-N,” she said.

The PML-N leader urged her party supporters to not return to their homes on the election day until the PML-N candidate was declared the winner. “Not allow anyone to steal your vote,” she added.