Troika receives special kudos from PM for running effective campaign

PML-N success in AJK elections

Islamabad

A trio that ran the campaign in the general elections to the Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, culminating in an inclusive success of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has received A-plus grade from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

“Of the troika, Information Minister Senator Parvaiz Rashid received special kudos from his boss for not only the effective campaign but aptly responding to the harangue from the PML-N’s opponents during the electioneering and elsewhere,” a knowledgeable source told The News.

He said the prime minister also commended the comprehensive contribution of his Special Assistant Dr Asif Kirmani and Kashmir Affairs Minister Birjees Tahir. The electioneering was exclusively spearheaded by this three-member squad by holding public meetings in every part of Azad Kashmir although they previously had no such experience in this region.

As the AJK government was to complete its tenure, paving the way for fresh polls, the Parvaiz Rashid-led troika was given the task to do all poll related work including selection of candidates. The award of PML-N tickets by them produced the desired results. There was no public grumbling or cribbing within the AJK chapter of the PML-N over ticket distribution.

The choice of contestants was so suitable and befitting that even a newcomer, who fought the election for the first time, routed experienced perennial winner like Barrister Sultan Mehmood, President of the AJK branch of the PTI, from a Mirpur seat. It was the most striking upset of the electoral fight. Defeating Sultan Mehmood was an uphill task because of his hold over the constituency for decades.

No other federal minister, not even the senior lot addressed a single public rally in AJK to lend a helping hand to the campaign run by the trio. The prime minister was in London in connection with his grave heart issue during the entire poll campaign.

The source said that at no stage did this squad seek help of any federal cabinet member to the job it was doing.

Before its present success story, the PML-N had also won the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) elections hands down because of the campaign by the same team. Never before, the PML-N had clinched such phenomenal victories in the AJK and GB.

Not only the PML-N but almost all commentators and observers feel that the landslide in AJK has demoralized its principal rivals specifically the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has announced to launch another agitation on August 7. If the PTI is inclined to do introspection, it may visualize well the public response to the new phase of its never-ending protest.

The source said that had the PTI won the polls or had even come close to the PML-N’s tally, its planned street protest would have got a shot in the arm and it would have become more uncontrollable. The outcome of the electoral fight has dampened its spirits and morale.

At the same time, the first independent political venture of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also completely failed to produce anything consolatory and comfortable for him and his party, which has been down and out since its profound beating in the 2013 general elections across Pakistan except Sindh.

Bilawal’s rigging mantra is freakish and shallow and aptly reflects the reaction of losers who instead of conceding defeat gracefully cry hoarse, hurling accusations on their rivals. It has not convinced anybody, not even many in his own party. He did not follow the footsteps of Imran Khan, who not only admitted defeat but also congratulated the victorious PML-N.

Obviously, the PML-N was thrilled over the failure of coup d’état by a section of the army in Turkey simply because of quick confronting of the putschists by thousands of gallant people rendering the rebels dysfunctional on July 15.

Less than a week after this episode, the PML-N received the superb news of sweeping success in AJK that even it itself had not predicted. It was sure to win to be in a position to form the government but did not envisage such monumental triumph, which is perhaps first for any party in the history of AJK elections.

Even after the grand achievement, the PML-N has not celebrated the win in a day that may further scare its detractors in any way. The prime minister’s visit to Muzaffarabad was meant to thank the electorate and   acknowledge their singular support to his party extended on Thursday.