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BADIN: Politics, it is said, is the art of the possible, and the by-poll for PS-57 in Tando Bago taluka of Badin district may be a good illustration of that axiom.
The seat was vacated by Dr Zulfikar Mirza a few weeks after his outburst against the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), the PPP’s ally in government both in the province and the centre, at a press conference in August last year. Given that his resignation as vice-president of the party had already been swiftly accepted by the PPP leadership after his vitriolic statements, to be followed soon after by his resignation from his cabinet post, it was generally believed that Dr Mirza, a politician who can be more revealing on the record than off, had perhaps upped the ante too far this time. The PPP leadership had also shown its displeasure over his press conference by changing pro-Mirza district party office-bearers and workers in Badin and replacing them with others not as partial to him. However, events in the run-up to the by-poll scheduled for Saturday are evidence that all is not quite as it appears.
As had been expected for some time, the PPP nominee for the seat is none other than Dr Mirza’s son, Barrister Hasnain Mirza. Moreover, the pro-Zulfikar Mirza district officials who had been removed from their posts were reinstated in late December. For instance, Sardar Kamal Khan Chang was restored as PPP general secretary of Badin district and Dr Abdul Aziz Memon as Badin taluka president in place of Abdul Ghafoor Nizamani and Abdul Sattar Memon, respectively. Although Dr Zulfikar Mirza has said several times that he will not support his son in the election if he contests as a PPP nominee candidate, the fact is that the district party office-bearers are his appointees and they are the ones who have been driving Hasnain Mirza’s election campaign.
According to Sardar Kamal Khan Chang, district general secretary of the PPP, “Yes, we are supporting his campaign as members of the PPP. His candidacy is no surprise. There can be a difference of opinion with the leadership but Dr Mirza is still a member of the party, and his wife is the speaker of the national assembly, a post to which she was nominated by the PPP.On Thursday there was a jalsa in Badin at which Dr Mirza was also present.”
Although Dr Mirza has been maintaining a low profile of late, the PPP leadership has continued to keep him at arm’s length and its nomination of Dr Mirza’s son as party’s candidate for the by-poll is difficult to reconcile with its public stance. At the same time, it is pertinent to remember that his wife Dr Fehmida Mirza’s position as national assembly speaker has never been in jeopardy despite her husband’s tirade and perhaps is more indicative of the party’s actual opinion on the issue.
The contest largely centres on three candidates, Barrister Husnain Mirza (PPP), Syed Ali Bux Shah alias Pappoo Shah (PML-like minded) and Mir Manzoor Ali Talpur (PML-N) while other candidates in the field serve largely to divide the votes of the constituency in negligible numbers.
Syed Ali Bux Shah, part of the old guard of PS-57 Tando Bago constituency, has always stood against PPP candidates in past elections. He won the seat in 2002 from the PML-Q platform by securing over 30,000 votes, defeating PPP’s Haji Abdul Karim Bhurgari who polled just under 20,000 votes.
In the 2008 elections, however, Dr Mirza decisively avenged the defeat by winning 33,111 votes while Mr Shah did not even get half that number.
Syed Ali Bux Shah during his press conference a few months ago had confirmed to local journalists that he would contest the by-election in PS-57 if Dr Mirza or his son, Barrister Husnain Mirza, filed nomination papers. Then in late December, the reinstatement of the pro-Mirza district office-bearers of the PPP created differences among local party workers who are divided among the old guard and the new, which was inducted by Dr Mirza when he gained political ascendancy in Badin. While those out of favour with the latter will not air their grievances in public, many of them, including some influential party people, such as the district party chief, have been perceptibly half-hearted in their campaigning efforts, refraining from arranging corner meetings on their own behalf for Husnain Mirza.
Despite this, and the fact that there are a number of opponents against him, the seat seems Barrister Husnain Mirza’s for the taking in view of the enormous clout of his family in the area.
Moreover, the PML-F, which also has a large vote bank in the constituency, has also thrown its support behind the PPP candidate and is openly campaigning for him. However, Syed Ali Bux Shah, whose ever-smiling demeanour has won him many supporters and who is also influential his own right in Badin, seems undeterred by the advantages enjoyed by his rival and is confident of victory.
Meanwhile, the PML-N candidate, Mir Manzoor Talpur, claims to have greatly increased his vote bank after gaining the support of the local Punjabi community and other settlers in the area who were earlier supporting Mr Shah but left him when he parted ways with the PML-Q.
