In 2018, real estate broker Ibrar Hussain made over Rs300,000 in a month by leasing out a space to a political party to set up an election office in the run-up to polls.
But this time around, that party — the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) — seems to be out of the scene for the Feb 8 elections, and Mr Hussain has not found any takers within the other political force in Valencia Town — the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — who might be interested in opening up an election office.
With barely three weeks left before citizens head to the polls, Lahore and other parts of the province are missing the mahol (atmosphere) that usually manifests itself around this time in the election cycle.
Last time around, party offices were set up in almost every street, while central offices of any mainstream political party were hubs of activity a month before the polling day.
In Lahore, the ‘one-sided’ campaign is putting off even seasoned workers, who are losing out on election jobs due to the tight-fistedness of a ‘confident’ PML-N machinery
But hardly any such activity can be seen this time around, and a host of people Dawn spoke to in different constituencies all point to the lack of a contest, in the absence of the PTI from the ballot.
Since PTI-backed candidates have been deprived of the party’s iconic ‘bat’ symbol, it seems no one is willing to spend (read waste) money on electioneering when there is no competition in the field, i.e. a fair fight between archrivals PML-N and PTI in Punjab.
“In 2018, I offered a space to a PTI candidate to open the party office, which was accepted after his rival [the PML-N candidate] opened his office in our area. At the time, there was a lot of political activity and competition among both parties,” Hussain says.
But now, he says, even the PML-N candidate from this area, Rana Mubashir, does not feel the need to open a party office, since it is still not clear who Imran Khan’s party is backing in this constituency, NA-124. The PPP candidate, meanwhile, is least interested in opening an office here.
In the absence of its main rival, PML-N party offices in different constituencies of Lahore, which are usually a hub of activity, have yet to enter campaign mode.
A visit to the PML-N central office Garhi Shahu, which falls in NA-119 and PP-149 — the constituency where PML-N chief organizer Maryam Nawaz and Istehkham-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) president Aleem Khan are contesting — paints an underwhelming picture.
The office is currently undergoing renovation, with piles of construction materials and workers in place of political workers visible at the spot throughout the day.
‘One-sided match’
“If you ask me, we are not enjoying this election because we don’t have any competition here… this is a one-sided match that we are going to win,” says Fayyaz Butt, a PML-N worker from NA-119.
In the last polls (both the 2018 general elections and the 2022 by-polls), there was stiff competition between PML-N and PTI candidates and during canvassing, emotions were running high.
“This time around, we don’t even know who is running against our party candidate. There are no posters or banners of our rival party. The PPP and Jamaat candidates have displayed their paraphernalia at some spots, but they are not our competition. The PTI was our rival, but they have been ousted already,” Butt says.
His colleague, Ishtiaq Ahmad, candidly lambasts the current political environment, saying that elections afford an opportunity for political workers to make some money on the side doing campaign-related jobs.
“But now, with one main party out of the political arena, my party’s candidates are also not spending too much, knowing that they will win in this one-sided affair.”
A similar gripe comes from those associated with the printing of campaign material and preparation of other political paraphernalia; the lack of competition on all sides means that orders are not at the level they used to be.
The PTI-backed candidates who are contesting independently have yet to make their presence felt; their hoardings are nowhere to be seen in the area. Since the party is also said to be running most of its campaign online — in the absence of a ‘level playing field’ on the ground — the fervour and exuberance that comes with its youthful support base is also missing from the election scene.
‘Bhutto in Lahore’
On the streets of Lahore, judging by the banners, posters and panaflexes of the candidates on display, one may be forgiven for thinking that only one party — the PML-N — is contesting the election.
Everywhere, that is, with the exception of one constituency; NA-127, where the PPP has fielded its chief, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
In NA-130, the constituency where party supremo Nawaz Sharif is set to contest from, the party has loaded the area with banners, although no schedule of his expected visit there has been issued so far.
But NA-127 is the only constituency out of the city’s 14 NA seats where political activity seems to be in full swing. Here, the PPP has set up party offices and is matching the party of the Sharifs on the banner and panaflex front.
The PPP has fielded candidates on almost all national and provincial assemblies’ seats in Lahore, but on the ground, the party seems to be focusing all its energies on NA-127 to make Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s campaign successful.
Peoples Students Federation (PSF) workers, as well as the party’s social media team, are also quite active in this constituency, where Mr Bhutto-Zardari is taking on PML-N deputy secretary general Attaullah Tarar and the PTI-backed Zaheer Abbas Khokhar.
Zulfiqar Ali Badr, son of late PPP stalwart Jahangir Badr, is in charge of the party’s campaign in NA-127.
He tells Dawn that the area has been in the media spotlight because of the high-profile contest featuring Bilawal.
“Party workers are going door-to-door in the constituency to seek votes for the chairman and we are receiving a good response from voters. Meanwhile the PML-N has not dared to launch its door-to-door campaign, fearing a public backlash for making the people’s their lives miserable with price hikes and inflation [during the PDM tenure],” he says.
Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2024
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