Overview
- Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari told reporters during the province's budget sessions on Monday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had “nothing to show” for governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and accused the party of failing to deliver basic services.
- Bukhari highlighted budget figures she said showed Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had allocated only Rs100,000 each for 189 development schemes and Rs10,000 each for 177 schemes and gave examples such as residents still using makeshift cable cradles to cross rivers.
- Agriculture Minister Syed Ashiq Hussain Kirmani said Punjab’s combined agriculture and livestock budget rose from Rs42 billion in 2021–22 to Rs116 billion this year and listed recent measures including Rs8 billion for flood rehabilitation, Rs15 billion to wheat growers, and large-scale green tractor and Kissan Card loan disbursements.
- Ministers framed the budget debate as a test of delivery and accused opposition leaders of preferring social media sloganeering over substantive discussion, while praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Syed Asim Munir for international recognition of their leadership.
- The exchange signals an effort by the Punjab government to use concrete spending figures and programme rollouts to shape public opinion ahead of budget implementation and may raise pressure on opposition parties to respond with detailed counter-figures or project-level evidence.