KARACHI: It didn’t matter if you saw him as an unguided missile or a malfunctioning one. It didn’t matter whether you loved him or hated him. The late Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) politician and television anchor Aamir Liaquat Hussain could always draw out huge crowds, something just not happening during the by-election of NA-245, the National Assembly seat that was left vacant due to his untimely demise in June.

The by-elections, which were first meant to take place in July, were postponed due to the rains.

The constituency, comprising PIB Colony, Teen Hatti, Martin Quarters, Pakistan Quarters, Jamshed Quarters, Garden West, Patel Para, New Town, Soldier Bazaar, Jacob Lines and PECHS, was being contested by 17 candidates belonging to different political parties after some boycotted the election while others backed off in favour of another party or candidate.

The low turnouts at polling stations within the constituency on an overcast breezy day, which also happened to be a Sunday, pointed to the fact that the voters woke up late, had a long and lazy breakfast or brunch before heading off to their polling stations for the needful.

Law-enforcers and polling staff outnumbered voters at many polling stations

At many of the polling stations, one could find more deployment of police and Rangers and polling staff than the voters.

“After MQM London’s non-participation call, the excitement pretty much died down. Other­wise, you would have definitely seen more enthusiasm among the voters,” one person at the facilitation camp in PIB Colony pointed out to Dawn.

Meanwhile, there was MQM-Pakistan hoping for the best with their candidate Moid Anwar. “We will celebrate in the evening,” said one of their volunteers, Mohammad Ishaq, who then started to loudly pray for peace for Aamir Liaquat in the hereafter.

Two voters, Habib Ali and his friend, after finding being guided to their polling station by volunteers at the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) camp there, said that the NA-245 seat was occupied by PTI because of Aamir Liaquat only. “With him out of the picture now, PTI shouldn’t expect much. Oh come on! You cannot compare Aamir Liaquat, his star power and charisma with Mahmood Baqi Moulvi, PTI’s current candidate for the seat,” said the young man. “I’d rather vote for Mohammed Ahmed Raza of TLP,” he added.

But everyone at the PTI camp with party colour stoles hanging around their necks laughed at that. “Well, who can have more charisma than Imran Khan? Those who vote for PTI are actually voting for Khan. Still, if you want to compare personalities, Mr Moulvi is a decent person, who cares for others,” said Omar Hayat, who said he had always been an “Imran’s Tiger”.

Mohammad Sabir, a resident of the area said that he had been observing all the people since morning and he felt that the main competition in PIB Colony was between PTI and Dr Farooq Sattar, who is contesting independently.

Athar Shah, a rickshaw driver passing through the area, also echoed the same thought. “But I think the bat weighs more than the padlock,” he said comparing PTI and Sattar’s election symbols.

The rickshaw driver also read out a verse he just made up to prove his love for Imran Khan and his party. Sadly, he didn’t have a vote in the constituency.

At Soldier Bazaar, according Rashda Masood, a polling agent, a smaller turnout was usual during by-elections. “But still, there has been a lot of confusion regarding polling stations. “People find out that they are at the wrong polling station or that they just don’t have a vote in the city,” she pointed out.

At Jamshed Quarters, there was a steady trickle of voters, both men and women. Some had also walked into the polling stations with little children. One of them, Fouzia Irfan, arrived with her son Mohammed Saim. “It will be good for him to watch his mother vote and to understand the election process through this experience,” she said.

Meanwhile, the voters at Jamshed Quarters had no issue with disclosing who they had voted for. Most of them, like Ms Shaishta Hashim, said that she had voted for PTI. “Balle Balle!” She exclaimed as ‘balle’ also means ‘bats’ in Urdu. Still, for a moment it felt like she was going to break into the popular song of Farida Khanum.

At Jacob Lines, most voters, like Mahnaz, said that she along with her entire family were PTI voters. “Look it was these few years of PTI that gave us enough awareness to know who is good or bad for this country. PTI showed us the good and now these past few months of PML-N have showed us how bad things can get,” she shrugged.

But despite what she said, the voters in Jacob Lines were divided between PTI, TLP or MQM-Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022