PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has advised supporters of PTI to vote for his party to stop PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif from becoming the prime minister for the fourth time.

“They [workers of PTI] could either waste their vote by opting for independent candidates, which amounts to supporting the PML-N or channel their energy and strategically use their right to vote,” the scion of Bhutto dynasty said while addressing a party rally in Punjab’s Gujrat on Thursday.

“They should consider that the contest is between two parties, and to stop the lion in its path, the arrow of the PPP needs to be stamped.”

The PPP chairman made a similar call at a Lahore rally last week. Bilawal, who was part of the PDM government, has slammed the PML-N for their economic policies during the 16-month tenure of the government.

But PTI founder Imran Khan has rejected the former foreign minister’s offer. “If he needs help, he should ask those with whom he ruled for 16 months. Today, they have become opponents, but they are the same,” he told reporters in an informal conversation after hearing multiple cases at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Last month, Bilawal expressed his happiness to hear slogans in favour of Khan. But he also slammed the cricketer-turned-politician for bringing personal matters into politics and not sitting at the table for dialogue.

In Gujrat, Bilawal said: “I will stop the lion in its path, and when given the opportunity on February 8, I will himself book a ticket for them on February 9 to return to their Avenfield apartments in London.”

He went on to add that it was the PML-N’s misconception that it had already won the elections after appointing an interim government in connivance with former opposition leader Raja Riaz coupled with the absence of the symbol of the bat.

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The PML-N was so confident that they did not even feel the need to campaign, he said. “But if the people of Punjab and the country wake up, and decide to stop them, then nothing can stop them till they achieve their objective.”

The PPP chairman urged to come out in historic numbers on February 8 and stamp the symbol of the arrow.

“The PPP will establish a democratic, pro-people government. There was not one political prisoner during Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s time,” he said.

“Those who used to say that the PPP is not present in Punjab and are not contesting, have nothing to talk about but the party these days. If there is any party that is serious about the elections, then it is the party of Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he said.