In the midst of an atmosphere of uncertainty, the last few days of electioneering were quite hectic. March 5, 1977 was the last day for holding rallies and public meetings. Z. A. Bhutto flew to Lahore, which he considered a stronghold of PPP, after Larkana. Though bombarded by a spate of large claims, denials and counter allegations, he still managed to create an aura of hope,

Bhutto held a meeting of the officials he had deputed to handle the election activity and report back to him. They included Ghulam Jilani, the director general of the Inter Services Intelligence, Dr Mubashir Hassan, Punjab chief secretary and other officials. They discussed the number of seats they could bag from Punjab, especially Lahore. There was an interesting exchange of views and assessments.

Some people felt that Bhutto gave more time to the officials than to the party leaders. This made Dr Mubashir angry who kept on contradicting the officials’ claims. However, the meeting ended on a note of optimism. There was no more activity throughout the country as the people were also busy observing Eid-i-Miladun Nabi on that day.

Both the camps had estimated their outcome at the ballot box: both had high hopes of success. The newspaper columnists were careful in their predictions. Some PPP enthusiasts had placed the PPP in the lead with 60 to 65pc votes in their favour, while the party leaders were estimating even higher figure. The PNA leaders, too, were optimistic about the results and even Asghar Khan claimed that the PNA had won and any other result would not be accepted.

The Election Commission on the last week of electioneering had reiterated that the polls would be free and fair. On March 5, the government announced that Section 144 would be in force from March 7, the election day, and that the armed forces would be deployed to assist the civil administration.

March 7 finally arrived; with traditional camps set outside the polling stations, political workers engaged in their assigned duties, the whole country was waiting for the outcome.

In all, 30,899,052 voters were registered with the Election Commission who were to elect 181 members of the National Assembly, as 19 candidates of the PPP had already been declared elected unopposed. The polling began at 8am in the morning and ended at 4pm. All the PPP and PNA candidates were in their respective constituencies. A control room had been established at the Prime Minister House.

The newsmen were all working in their respective fields. Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television were the only source of quick information for the Pakistanis as no private news sources had the facility of on-the-spot reporting. Everybody waited till the official results were announced by PTV’s special transmissions. Some skirmishes were reported between political workers from their areas but nothing appeared on TV screens.

By 6pm the results began pouring in. The first results as announced by the official vehicle — PTV and Radio Pakistan — showed success for the PNA. However, in a short time news of success of PPP candidates began flowing in, declaring the complete fall of PNA candidates. Though the PPP had bragged about routing the opposition, Bhutto started to have some doubts.

At one point he walked away from the TV screen and telephone sets and went outside in the open air along with Rafi Raza, his trusted aide. According to Rafi Raza, Bhutto asked him: “Do you think I rigged those results?” To this Rafi Raza replied that a total rout of the PNA was very surprising. Then both walked up to his room from where he telephoned every commissioner in Punjab and asked them what was happening, with a question: “Did I not tell you to be impartial and fair?

Rao Rashid, his special assistant, recalled that Bhutto called him by telephone at four in the morning and asked him how did this happen? “Did someone do some rigging?” And then, without elaborating further or asking any more questions, he ended the conversation.

Whether Bhutto asked for it or it was a case of being more loyal than the king, the results brought a sense of uncertainity over the atmosphere. At every street corner people thronged to listen to others’ views as every result being announced confirmed the routing of the PNA. Army units appeared after intervals but people simply kept blank-faced and silent.

Many heavyweights in the PNA had been defeated.

The results had cast doubts on the promises made by the government regarding free and fair elections and had marred the credibility of the Election Commission for quite some time.

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