Days before the country’s highly anticipated general elections, the fight for Lahore’s NA-122 constituency entails a clash of the titans. Although the PML-N has won this seat by impressively comfortable margins in the previous two rounds, the N-fortress is not taking this May 11 lightly.
With PTI Chairman Imran Khan being the candidate gunning for the hot seat in this PML-N bastion, PML-N candidate and two-time winner on this seat, former minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq is going all out to combat what he terms “a new challenge”.
Where the PTI’s proclamations of a tsunami and the subsequent support Imran has received are an omen that things could swing in his favour, the numbers speak volumes for Sadiq. He bagged 37,531 votes in 2002 – more than double of Imran’s meager 18,638 for the same seat – and 79,506 votes in 2008, an overwhelming 50,000 plus votes more than the PPP runner-up candidate Mian Umar Misbahul Rehman.
Interestingly enough, Sadiq is a former PTI member who used to be with the party till 1997, when he left due to differences with Imran. In pre-poll conversations with The Express Tribune, both candidates seem confident about their popularity in the constituency.
Constituency & Candidates
Area 50 square km
Constituent Areas
Railway Colony | Mughal Pura | Railway Phatak Baja Line | G.T.Road | Empress Road | Railway Nach Ghar | Garhi Shahu | Allama Iqbal Road | Mustafa Abad (Dharam Pura) | Main Mir Pind | Darbar Mian Mir | Shadman | Waris Road | Lawrance Garden | Ganga Ram Hospital | GOR-1 | Basti Syedan Shah | Upper Mall | Queen Marry College | Bibi Pak Daman | Ichra | Mohammad Pura | Shah Kamal | Rawan | Rehman Pura | Shiqa Abad | Pakki Thatti | Ferozpur Road | Rehman Pura | Sman Abad | Ganda Nala | Shah Jamal | Chauburji
“I feel sad for Ayaz Sadiq because he is going to suffer a crushing defeat this time,” says Imran. “This is not 2002. This time there will be a reverse, a bigger tsunami than even I had expected.” Despite the fact that Sadiq joined the N-League when the Sharifs were in exile, Imran feels Sadiq joined them because “that’s where the gravy train was”.
“He is someone who does not have a political ideology,” Imran says of Sadiq. What adds to his confidence is his popularity even though he has not yet campaigned in Lahore. He feels that the tide will turn in his favour when the aggressive campaigning begins in the final days before the elections.
“If the response in a feudal area like south Punjab has been so amazing, Lahore will be one of the biggest upsets in history. The PML-N will fall,” he says, explaining that this time the party is equipped with a bigger and better team.
Compared to Imran whose confidence knows no bounds, Ayaz Sadiq is demure. He lets the provincial government’s performance and the numbers from 2008 do the talking.
Results
2008
NA-258 (Karachi)
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Baloch
Aurangzeb Shaafi Burki
2002
NA-258 (Karachi)
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq
Imran Khan
“The competition is good and we are taking it on,” says Sadiq.He cites the work done by the Punjab government in this tenure as the reason that NA-122 will remain the PML-N’s fortress. “Traders are openly saying they are comfortable with the PML-N. Because of the provision of solar home solutions, the laptop scheme, dengue and flood management and the new metro bus service, Sadiq feels voters will acknowledge the work done by the government in the last 18 months.“The youth is with us too. There are euphoric young men at our jalsas chanting PML-N slogans. They are yelling ‘Sher aaya! Sher aaya!’ in the places we are visiting.”
He feels that his victory at the ballot box will be one with a comfortable margin. In his opinion the PTI’s popularity peaked in October 2011 and now is in a slump. “We had 80,000 votes in the last elections and those people are not going anywhere. Add to that our performance… our five-year performance is exceptional,” says Sadiq.
In the last days, both camps are aggressively campaigning in areas from Garhi Shahu to GOR, where posters of both parties can be seen festooned on numerous walls and billboards.
Judging by statistics, Sadiq is looking at over 80,000 votes, whereas Imran Khan is starting in this constituency from scratch, hoping to take a piece of the PML-N’s pie.
Scheduled visits in this constituency by Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan will be the gamechanger that can add to or take away from the other’s vote banks.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2013.