Residents of NA-123 (Lahore-VI) have been known to shift their party support. In the 1970s and 1980s, some of the areas that make up the constituency were a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stronghold but that changed in the 1990s, when the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) became the party of voters’ choice.
Another change of heart seems to be in the offing if the voters that The Express Tribune talked to are to be believed. The reason: their disappointment with the representatives they elected in the 2008 elections. A switch is what the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf is hoping for. It is also encouraged by the 58,500 plus new voters who were registered this year.
The residents of the constituency complained that their grievances (contaminated water due to pollution by industries, shortage of drinking water and low pressure or no gas) were not addressed. They said that political leaders “remembered” their constituents only when elections were around the corner and forgot all about them as soon as they were elected.
Residents of Bhagatpura, Gujjarpura, Nazimabad, Alia Town, Bhogiwaal, Ghaziabad, Gulbahar Colony and adjoining areas told The Express Tribune that their water supply was contaminated with sewage waste and that in most areas there was always a very low pressure of gas.
Those living in Mehmood Booti and its surrounding areas complained of water supply being polluted by industries.
In 2011, most of the patients diagnosed with dengue fever had belonged to this constituency.
Mian Tufail, a resident of Gulbahar Colony, said his biggest concern was that his children’s lives were at risk because of the contaminated water.
Miraj Din, a Bhagatpura resident, complained that there was either no gas or a low pressure that made it impossible for them to cook food.
Despite the voters’ comments, PML-N’s candidate Pervaiz Malik, who was elected as an MNA in by-elections in 2010, believes that he will win again. “We have served the people of our constituency… NA-123 has been the PML-N’s stronghold for years now,” he told The Express Tribune.
Malik said during his tenure he had built colleges for women and men, had brought gas supply to Madina Town, Alia Town and Gulbahar Town, given the area a 22-kanal graveyard near Sher Shah Road and expanded Kot Khwaja Saeed Hospital from 40 to 300 beds.
He also claims that the party has the support of the Arain and Gujar clans. The clans have, in the past, played a decisive role in elections. However, if the vote gets divided, nothing can be said for certain.
When asked whether or not he thought the voice recording of his brother Justice Malik Abdul Qayyum, being played on TV channels by the PPP, will affect his chances of being elected, he said he was confident that it would not.
Atif Chaudhry, the PTI candidate, told The Express Tribune that he was hopeful that he would win because the people were disappointed with the people they elected in 2008. “The constituency might have been a PML-N stronghold but the newly registered voters can change that,” he said. Most of the new voters, said Chaudhry, were young people who believed in the PTI.
Azizur Rehman Chan, the PPP candidate, agreed with Chaudhry’s observation that the voters wanted a change but his prediction was that the PPP would win.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2013.