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Thursday March 28, 2024

Rivals face litmus test in Karachi LB polls

By our correspondents
November 29, 2015
ISLAMABAD: The combined and individual high sounding claims of popularity made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) will be put to the test in the third and conclusive phase of local council elections in six districts of Karachi to be held on December 5.
At the same time, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is confronted with a huge challenge to prove that it enjoys the same old sweeping appeal in the metropolis even while encountering heavy odds, and its standing has not suffered when it is in deep hot water and no longer relishes in the luxury of the support of the powers that be.
Unlike their past persistent hiccups, this time the PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami have sincerely joined hands to give a tough time to MQM in Karachi, which they consider very important for their politics. In reality, they are the only key parties that have thrown down the gauntlet to the MQM as other political forces like the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are on the sidelines, posing no significant threat to the MQM.
After a long time, Imran Khan and Sirajul Haq were together in Karachi to campaign for their joint and separate candidates in six Karachi districts (East, West, Central, South, Malir and Korangi). Generally, they had been avoiding such public appearances in most elections because they had not been on the same page in such contests.
Their parties faced a nightmarish result when they had fought the by-election to NA-246 Karachi constituency and both were massively routed by the MQM. The PTI had got a relatively good total, far less than that of the MQM, but the performance of Jamaat-e-Islami was extremely dismal. Keeping the fallout of their solo flights in view, they have now decided to contest the local polls hand in hand with the hope to come out with a better showing. However, making a major dent to the MQM would be a tall order for them as it continues to hold sway in the business and commercial hub of Pakistan. It is for the first time that the MQM is fighting an election on its own, without the active and effective electioneering by Altaf Hussain, who has been making a gigantic contribution through his stimulating and sometimes provocative telephonic addresses since 1992. The electoral arena is smooth and open for the PTI and JI to demonstrate their worth, while it is not the case for the MQM, which as usual is vociferously articulating uninterrupted the hardships it is beset with mainly because of the action being taken by the Sindh Rangers.
Since the two parties enjoy a free hand, hassle-free campaigning is on and there is also no meddling by the police or any law enforcement agency to restrict their canvassing in any way. Assertions, if any by any party, regarding rigging, to be made after the results have been announced, would deserve outright rubbishing for having no substance and value whatsoever.
The PTI and JI committed a glaring violation of law as they did not even care to seek the Karachi administration’s permission to hold their extended show on Saturday. In Islamabad on Friday, the PTI chairman had disregarded the calls of the local administration and the Election Commission of Pakistan that public rallies are banned in the campaign for the local polls.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan has frequently complained that police in Punjab have favoured the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and worked against his party candidates. Any such accusation hurled by him in the local polls in Karachi will be devoid of even slightest substance. The Rangers and police are all set to ensure that the MQM is forcibly prevented from its alleged practice of ballot-stuffing, and to give all other contestants a level playing field that they had been denied in the past. The MQM has claimed that it has not been allowed to freely campaign and its several activists have been arrested by the Rangers, a charge the paramilitary force has denied, stressing that those nabbed are involved in heinous crimes. Over the past couple of weeks when the election campaign intensified, the Rangers’ operation against target killers, kidnappers for ransom, extortionists and mafias also got a fillip. It has so happened that a number of persons arrested on grave criminal charges are active members of the MQM, which is yet to fully purge its ranks of offenders. Most of those apprehended during the ongoing drive have been produced before courts and their physical remands taken for further investigations.
Propaganda, and genuine and illegitimate charges of the MQM apart, it is a hard fact that the Rangers had in no way thwarted its genuine victory in NA-246. The force has to its credit, making sure that the polling was peaceful and no political party resorted to rigging.