PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that he was ready for inspection and debate after PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif advised him to have an invitation to visit Sindh instead of having a verbal duel.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif should debate with me in Gambat, Khairpur where the hospital is better than any hospital in Punjab and the treatment here is free,” he said in reply to Shehbaz’s post on X on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, the PML-N president said that an invitation to Sindh would have been better than a verbal duel with Sharif.

He was of the view that it would have been better to have a debate and comparison.

Bilawal’s demand was made against the backdrop of televised debates among presidential and prime ministerial candidates, providing voters with crucial insights into their plans. He believed that it was vital for an informed electorate ahead of the voting process.

Some of the experts welcomed his statement. Author Madiha Afzal stated that it was high time election campaigns in Pakistan introduced policy debates and the PM candidates of the PPP, PML-N, and PTI – the three largest parties – should engage in them.

In his long post, Bilawal reminded Shehbaz that Sharif did not visit Gambat despite becoming the prime minister three times.

He added that Sharif can also come to Tharparkar and inspect the infrastructure in the Hindu dominated city. The former prime minister may compare Thar with the Cholistan desert, the PPP chief said.

“The coal project in Thar, which you and your brother opposed, is providing cheap electricity to Faisalabad, not Karachi.”

Bilawal stated that Sharif may hold a debate outside the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Karachi where more than 84,000 people from Punjab were treated last year which is “proof that Punjab hospitals do not have” such facilities.

“Don’t be evasive, please tell me in which city and on which date your brother has to hold a debate,” he said.