Pervez Khattak blames ’emotional and misused votes’ for load-shedding

PESHAWAR: Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has remarked that the people “got emotional and misused their votes,” explaining that he could do nothing for them amidst exacerbating power cuts and load-shedding in the province.

During a protest against load-shedding in Nowshera, people confronted Khattak and asked him to raise his voice against power cuts. He tersely replied, “Ask those you voted for.” He added that the people in KP “got emotional and misused their votes.”

On the second day of Eid, citizens in Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, and Karak took to the streets, blocking GT Road in Nowshera to protest against the electricity outages. During the demonstrations, protesters stopped Khattak’s car, demanding an end to the load-shedding. He advised them to speak to those they had elected, stating that they were bearing the brunt of “emotional voting” and must now suffer the consequences.

Also read: Protestors demonstrating against load-shedding block Peshawar Motorway

In Karak, women blocked Shagai Road in protest, disrupting traffic. They reported that their area was experiencing over 20 hours of load-shedding daily. Similarly, in Peshawar, demonstrators burned tyres and blocked Customs Chowk Bara Road.

According to a spokesperson from Pesco, scheduled load management was being carried out, with higher load-shedding in areas with significant line losses and power theft.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) central leader and former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser accused the federal government of taking revenge on the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for voting for PTI. He stated that the province has faced the worst load-shedding in the last three days. He announced plans to protest in the National Assembly and during the budget speech against the prolonged outages and high electricity rates.