MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said he would ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to make him the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) if the party secured victory in the upcoming elections.

Addressing party workers in Muzaffarabad, Nawaz said it had been a long time since he last met the people of the region. “Today, we are meeting after a very long time. I have remained away from you,” he said.

The former prime minister also questioned why a motorway had not been built between Kohala and Muzaffarabad.

“For me, Azad Kashmir is just as dear as Punjab,” he said, adding, “Azad Kashmir is my second home.”

Nawaz pledged to visit AJK every three months if his party won the elections, promising to personally review development work.

“If you make the PML-N successful, I will personally come here every three months to review the progress of development work,” he said.

He urged voters to support the PML-N, saying the party would work to address the region’s issues if elected.

Referring to development in Punjab, the PML-N president said that projects were initiated by PM Shehbaz and were now being completed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

Nawaz promised a tenfold increase in AJK’s budget if his party formed the government, while pledging major infrastructure and public welfare projects.

According to the former premier, the PML-N had never discriminated in development projects between AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and the four provinces, saying development projects similar to those in Punjab would also be launched in the region.

Nawaz recalled that the budget for AJK had been doubled when he was the prime minister of Pakistan. “If our government is formed here, we will increase Kashmir’s budget tenfold,” he said.

He further announced that 10 electric, air-conditioned green buses would reach Muzaffarabad within the next few days and said 15 mobile hospitals were also being brought for the region.

This is a developing story and is being updated with further details.