THE alliance between the Sharifs’ PML-N and sugar baron Jahangir Khan Tareen’s Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) on seven seats of the National Assembly and 11 of the Punjab legislature looks to be a kind of “secret marriage”, as no side is ready to own it in public, or help out the other in its election campaign.

Neither the PML-N nor the IPP have officially made any announcements regarding their seat-adjustment arrang­ement, and PML-N candidates are running their campaigns, even in the 17 constituencies their party supposedly ‘gifted’ to the IPP in Punjab, ostensibly on the insistence of the powers that be.

The PML-N leadership, however, has not yet conveyed to its workers in these 18 constituencies, save two, that IPP candidates are the two parties’ joint contestants. Moreover, neither party has officially listed the seats on which the two have an agreement.

According to information obtained by Dawn, the seven NA seats the two sides have reached an adjustment on include: NA 47 Islamabad-II, NA-54 Rawal­pindi-III, NA-68 Mandi Bahaduddin-II, NA-117 Lahore-I, NA-128 Lahore-XII, NA-143 Sahiwal-III and NA-149 Multan-II.

Despite a much-touted seat adjustment, neither side has officially conveyed the arrangement to its workers, nor released an official list to the media, and PML-N candidates are still running their own campaigns in constituencies supposedly ‘gifted’ to the IPP

The two exceptions are NA-117 Lahore-I and PP-149 Lahore-V, where PML-N leaders Saad Rafique and Sheikh Rohail Asghar coordinated with IPP President Aleem Khan during canvassing, mostly due to their personal relationship with him.

Furthermore, Aleem Khan has even managed to persuade the Chaudharys’ PML-Q to withdraw their candidate who was contesting against him in NA-117.

In stark contrast, Awn Chaudhry of the IPP has found no help from the PML-N’s former ticket-holder and workers for his campaign in NA-128 Lahore-XII, despite pleading with Shehbaz Sharif, who was instrumental in persuading his party to leave the constituency in favour of IPP.

Incidentally, Mr Chaudhry has a close relationship with the PML-N president as he previously served as an adviser to then-PM Shehbaz during the previous PDM government.

‘Strange situation’

In the absence of marching orders from the party’s top leadership — Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz — on the seat adjustment deal with IPP, PML-N workers have not been seen canvassing in tandem with IPP in this constituency, as is usually the case when two parties join hands.

Former PML-N ticket-holders, who were ignored by the party leadership this time around in order to oblige the IPP, are understandably not ready to canvass for the latter, either.

The IPP — a second home for Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) deserters — is only contesting in 51 of Punjab’s 141 NA constituencies. The IPP has no alliance with any other party, yet it claims that its only rival is its main ally, the PML-N.

The party’s patron-in-chief, Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT), is a candidate from NA-149 and NA-155 in Multan and Lodhran, respectively.

On the Lodhran seat, the PML-N has already awarded the ticket to an electable, Siddique Baloch, but has left the field open for JKT in Multan.

“It’s a strange situation — in the Lodhran constituency, JKT is seeking votes against the PML-N candidate, while in Multan he wants my party’s local leadership to campaign for him,” a PML-N leader from Punjab told Dawn on Thursday.

He said that since the PML-N leadership had started its own election campaign hardly three weeks before the Feb 8 polls, the IPP shouldn’t expect the Sharifs to go the extra mile for Tareen’s party. “IPP candidates will have to bank on their own resources to win their seats,” he said.

IPP leaders and workers were euphoric after the apex court’s decision to deprive the PTI of its iconic symbol ‘bat’, the PML-N leader said.

Since it now carries the tag of ‘king’s party’, IPP hopes to absorb most PTI candidates who are elected on Feb 8 as independents. “This will enable the party to dictate terms,” an IPP insider told Dawn, adding that they were also confident of help from ‘upon high’ in the polls.

When asked for comment, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, spokespersons for the PML-N and the IPP, respectively, remained tight-lipped on the matter of seat adjustment and the lack of coordination between them.

Ms Awan, who is contesting the NA-70 seat in Sialkot, is also running her campaign on her own after PML-N refused her application for a ticket and gave it to Armaghan Subhani.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2024