Shahbaz terms spike in oil rates mini-budget.

LAHORE -- Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif has chided Prime Minister Imran Khan for the record hike in petroleum prices, saying it is a mini-budget as those 'parachuted into power' serve the interests of mafias instead of the masses.

'Genuine leaderships that are elected by the people keep public interest in view while taking decisions, whereas those who are parachuted into power serve the interests of mafias instead of masses. Last night, the PTI government dropped a huge petrol bomb on the masses, taking people for granted,' the PML-N president said on Saturday in a tweet.

He said: 'An example of embedded nexus between PTI and mafias is that prices of wheat, sugar and medicines that were exorbitantly increased to pocket profits have not come down, which means that mafias r skimming millions with full connivance of Niazi, its rhetoric of accountability notwithstanding.'

He said this 'government of mafias and for mafias' had won and the people had lost. 'Hardly had the benefit of reduced prices of POL products reached the masses and Niazi regime has jacked them up massively, thus unleashing a new round of price hike,' he lamented.

'This spike in petrol prices is the sugar scandal Part-II. The government has imposed a mini-budget on the people, even before the budget,' he said.

'We will protest...