Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab: Nawaz Sharif kicks off election campaign

PML-N supremo vows to resolve AJK issues, pledges tenfold budget increase if party forms government Web Desk July 21, 2026 3 min read SCREENGRAB Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday kicked off his election campaign in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), describing the region as his second home and saying it was as dear to him as Punjab. "Azad Kashmir is as dear to me as Punjab," Nawaz said while addressing a public gathering in Muzaffarabad, adding that there had been no discrimination in development projects across AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and the four provinces. The PML-N leader was accompanied by Maryam Nawaz and former AJK prime minister Raja Farooq Haider on the stage. Nawaz expressed a deep emotional attachment to the region, saying both AJK and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) were part of his identity. "AJK and IIOJK are my homes," he said. "Kashmir is my home, and the people of Kashmir are my own people." Expressing his desire to become the prime minister of AJK, Nawaz said he would request Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appoint him to the position if his party won the upcoming elections in the region. "If you vote for the PML-N, I will come to AJK every three months and personally resolve people's problems," he said. اگر انشاء اللہ مسلم لیگ ن کو عوام نے خدمت کا موقع دیا تو آزاد کشمیر کے تمام مسائل حل کریں گے۔ اگر میں وزیراعظم نہ بھی بن سکا تو ہر تین ماہ بعد مظفرآباد، راولاکوٹ اور دیگر علاقوں کا خود دورہ کروں گا، منشور پر عمل کا جائزہ لوں گا اور عوام کو گواہ بنا کر ہر وعدہ پورا کروں گا۔ جو… pic.twitter.com/wJh7CsSZbG — PMLN (@pmln_org) July 21, 2026 Nawaz highlighted development projects in Punjab and said similar initiatives would be introduced in AJK. He said he had instructed Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz that development work being carried out in Punjab should also be replicated in Muzaffarabad and other parts of AJK. "On winning the AJK elections, we will bring every project here. Projects like those in Punjab will also be built in AJK," he said, adding that motorway-style projects would also be developed in the region. Lamenting the lack of development in the area, Nawaz said that while the rest of the country witnessed the construction of motorways and expressways, the road to Muzaffarabad had remained unchanged. He said his government had proposed constructing a motorway from Mansehra to Muzaffarabad and then to Mirpur along the Jhelum River. According to Nawaz, the motorway would have spurred development in the region, leading to the construction of roads, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities. The PML-N supremo said he had doubled AJK's budget during his previous tenure as prime minister and pledged to increase it tenfold if his party formed the government in the region. "You know that Nawaz Sharif fulfils the promises he makes," he said. He also praised PM Shehbaz's role in Punjab's development and said Maryam was continuing those initiatives. Nawaz announced that the Punjab government would provide 10 electric, air-conditioned green buses to Muzaffarabad, saying the buses would arrive within days. He told the gathering that the buses were powered by electricity and equipped with air conditioning. The PML-N supremo further said 15 “hospitals on wheels” would soon be deployed across AJK to provide healthcare services to residents of far-flung areas who lacked access to medical facilities in their vicinity. Nawaz said it was deplorable that people in the valley had to carry sick patients on charpoys before transporting them to Islamabad for tertiary care. He said he had resumed development programmes for the region and planned to introduce the mobile hospital concept to save lives. Referring to the party's political history, Nawaz said the PML-N had repeatedly been removed from office despite delivering economic growth and development. "We have suffered injustice many times. Whenever our government was removed, those who came afterwards damaged Pakistan and reversed the country's progress," he said. The former prime minister maintained that the PML-N had a proven record of governance and development and asked voters to compare its performance with that of its political opponents. He concluded by assuring the audience that the PML-N would bring modern transport, improved healthcare and sustained economic development to AJK, saying the region deserved the same opportunities and public services enjoyed by the people of Punjab.