PML-N, PPP vie for funds for Lahore-Bahawalnagar highway in NA

A showdown between the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was narrowly averted at a session of the National Assembly on Tuesday after a dispute erupted over the proposed transfer of funds for the Lahore-Bahawalnagar highway.

The issue surfaced when PPP member Syed Naveed Qamar submitted an appeal notice regarding the alleged diversion of funds from the Sukkur-Hyderabad Expressway project to the Lahore-Bahawalnagar Expressway. PPP lawmakers accused the PML-N-led government of reallocating development funds for political purposes.

Responding to the allegations, Minister of State for Planning Armaghan Subhani dismissed the claims. He said Qamar had raised a question regarding the transfer of Rs 465 billion from the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the Bahawalpur Expressway, but there was no definitive justification for such a claim. He added that no inter-scheme allocation was planned for the project.

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Qamar, however, said the issue was not just the misappropriation of PSDP funds, but also whether the project had been federalized. He argued that the highway clearly fell under one province, going from one point to another. He further claimed that International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities were being ignored for political reasons. “I don’t think that’s the best way to handle these projects,” he said.

PPP leader Sharmila Farooqi said the commitments made in the House contradicted the facts. She noted that PC-1 of the project, valued at Rs465 billion, had already been submitted to the Central Development Working Group (CDWP).

“This is a fully provincial project, and its inclusion in the PSDP constitutes a violation of the national fiscal compact, according to which no provincial project can be included in the PSDP unless the province agrees to a 50 percent financing plan. It was recommended to submit it to ECNEC even though it cannot be financed by the federal government,” she said.

Terming it a serious violation, Farooqi warned that if Punjab’s projects were funded unilaterally, other provinces – Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa – would follow suit, creating inequalities across the country. She claimed that the cost of the project had increased by 73 percent, adding that despite this escalation, the design was not yet finalized. “They don’t have a financing plan, that’s why they are trying to include it in the PSDP,” she added.

In response, Subhani confirmed that the CDWP had reviewed the project, but clarified that only part of it – 18.5 kilometers – fell under PSDP funding.

He said the relevant forum approved the PSDP programs and the CDWP recommended submission of the project to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), while the remaining funding would be managed by the province. He stressed that the federal government was not providing any additional funding for the project.

Meanwhile, PPP MP Agha Rafiullah criticized the government’s conduct, saying: “The PPP fully understands the government’s modus operandi; it says one thing but does another. The recent order, issued without the President’s signature and then withdrawn, is a good example of this.”

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He added that if the government was serious about connecting Hyderabad-Sukkur and the rest of Sindh with the Pakistan Economic Corridor, it should make a clear political statement. While expressing confidence in the Prime Minister’s commitments, he warned that effective implementation was not possible with an incapable team.

The session was chaired by President Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who sought to defuse the situation by ordering Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan to submit detailed reports on the issue. He then referred the matter to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning for further consideration.

PPP member Nabeel Gabol also criticized the government, alleging that key ministers were absent during important discussions. He further raised public grievances in Karachi over K-Electric’s performance, saying residents continued to face difficulties.

During the session, three private member’s bills were presented, while reports of several standing committees linked to different ministries were also presented. The National Assembly was adjourned until 11 a.m. on January 16.