The leadership of PPP and the PML-N has directed party leaders to refrain from making statements against each other regarding electricity rates, sources told Aaj News on Tuesday.

Both parties have communicated the decision to their respective leaders to ensure a unified front on the issue.

This comes after the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led governments in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa criticised the Punjab government over the electricity relief.

Earlier this week, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif announced that the Punjab government would provide Rs14 per unit relief in August and September bills to consumers using up to 500 units of electricity.

“This is a huge relief. She [Maryam] has done this after cutting her government’s expenses from different sectors,” he said while addressing a press conference in Lahore on Friday. “She [Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has diverted funds worth Rs45 billion from the developmental budget to provide relief to the people.”

The former prime minister also urged other provinces to follow suit.

Last week, PPP leader Murtaza Wahab told Geo News that the government should grant long-term relief while the cut in electricity rates would only last for only two months.

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Wahab blamed the PML-N government for signing contracts with the independent power producers (IPPs) in haste. “Provincial card should not be played on electricity-related issues,” he said.

Moreover, Adviser to the KP CM on Finance Muzammil Aslam also criticised Punjab’s two-month power subsidy announcement, alleging that it would be tantamount to wasting public resources in the name of relief.

He claimed that unsustainable power projects were launched in Punjab which generate electricity at the cost of Rs75 per unit via imported furnace.