Electoral marathon of prime ministerial stuff

ISLAMABAD: Leading titans, generally touted as the “prime ministerial stuff”, are trying their luck in various keenly watched national constituencies in the July 25 electoral clash.

Except in one constituency of the federal capital, none of these giants clashes with the other. They are vying for different seats. Their challengers are not as heavyweights as these big names are considered to be for their nationwide political worth and standing.

Of these six personalities, three have held top government positions at the federal or provincial level. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif has been chief minister of Punjab thrice. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) supremo Asif Ali Zardari has been the president of Pakistan while Shahid Khakan Abbasi has been the prime minister. Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, PPP stalwart Bilawal and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan have never held any public office.

Only in an out of the ordinary post-election scenario, none of them could make it to the slot of the prime minister otherwise they are the obvious choice. Who, amongst them, will get the dreamy post will depend on the polls results?

A grand competition will happen in all these constituencies, which will be under tremendous public focus. Obviously, they will be out of the ensuing race for the top most office if they lose in the first round.

Only Zardari and Maryam Nawaz are contesting one seat each while all other four leaders are in the running in more than one constituency.

In almost all the constituencies these half a dozen leading lights are aspiring, there are spoilers, who have no chance of win but they will definitely damage one candidate or the other. This factor will become all the more important where the margin of victory or defeat will be too narrow.

Shahbaz Sharif is in the race for four constituencies – NA-192 Dera Ghazi Khan (DGK), NA-132 Lahore, 249 Karachi and NA-3 Swat. In DGK, PTI’s Sardar Muhammad Leghari, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) nominee Syed Munir Hussain and Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek (AAT) representative Ahmed Bux are contesting against him. The PPP has not fielded any candidate.

In Lahore, the PML-N president’s opponents include PTI’s Munsha Sindhu, PPP’s Samina Khalid Gurkhi, Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) representatives Hafiz Haider Ali/Chaudhry Ijaz, TLP’s Amjad Naeem and AAT’s Shabbir Ahmed.

In Swat, Shahbaz Sharif will fight against Salim Rehman of PTI, Shahryar Amirzeb of PPP, Abdul Karim Khan of Awami National Party (ANP) and Zar Muhammad of TLP. The MMA withdrew its candidate Maulana Hujatullah in support of the PML-N chief but he refused to back down and is in the field as an independent.

In Karachi, the PML-N president is being opposed by PTI’s Faisal Vawda, PPP’s Qadir Khan Mandokhel, MMA’s Syed Ataullah Shah, ANP’s Aurangzeb, PSP’s Wasim Aftab and TLP’s Mufti Abid Mubarik.

Maryam Nawaz, who is vying for NA-127 Lahore, faces PTI’s Jamshed Iqbal, PPP’s Adnan Gorsi, MMA’s Arshad Balakoti, TLP’s Muhamad Zaheer and AAT’s Mian Aamir Abbas.

Shahid Khakan Abbasi is contesting from two constituencies – NA-53 Islamabad and NA-57 Murree-Kahota. In the capital, Imran Khan is the prominent contender against him. The PPP has sponsored Subghatul Hassan Bokhari, a close relative of former Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari, the TLP has fielded Afnan Baloch and the AAT has put forward Chaudhry Saeed Gujjar.

In NA-57, Abbasi’s adversaries include PTI’s Sadaqat Abbasi and TLP’s Javed Akhtar Abbasi.

Imran Khan is ahead of every contesting candidate in terms of number of seats he is fighting – NA-35 Bannu, NA-53 Islamabad, NA-95 Mianwali, NA-131 Lahore and NA-243 Karachi.

In NA-35, Akram Durrani, senior Jamiate Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader and former chief minister as the MMA candidate, is the main contender against the PTI chairman. The PPP has sponsored Syed Yasmin Safdar while the PML-N has not fielded anyone as part of its understanding with the MMA.

In NA-95 Mianwali, Imran Khan’s rivals include PML-N’s Obaidullah Shadikhel, PPP’s Khalid Khan and TLP’s Tauqirul Husnain. Obaidullah Shadikhel had won the by-election to the Mianwali seat that Imran Khan had vacated in 2013 after winning from more than one constituency.

In NA-131, senior PML-N stalwart Khawaja Saad Rafiq, PPP’s Asim Mehmood Bhatti, MMA’s Waqar Nadim Warraich and TLP’s Syed Murtaza Hassan are pitched against the PTI chief.

In NA-243, Shah Muhammad Shah Jahan of PML-N, Shehla Raza of PPP, Osama Razi of MMA, Ali Raza Abidi of MQM, Muzammil Qureshi of PSP, Kamran Rizvi of Mohajir Qaumi Movement, Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi of AAT and Syed Nawazullah of TLP will contest against Imran Khan.

Zardari is in the running for NA-213 Shaheed Benazirabad and has been challenged by a number of candidates. Syed Ghulam Mohyuddin Shah represents the PML-N, Farooq Ahmed Chandio the PTI, Abdur Rauf Siddiqui the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM), Sardar Sher Rind the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Syed Kazim Shah the Pakistan Sarzameen Party (PSP), Muhammad Ismail the AAT, another name of the political arm of the Jamaatud Dawa of Hafiz Saeed, which was formerly known as Milli Muslim League that was not registered by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and Mushtaq Jatt of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

In NA-246 Karachi, Salim Zia of PML-N, Abdus Shakoor Shad of PTI, Maulana Noorul Haq of MMA, Hazrat Gul of ANP, Mahfooz Yar Khan of MQM, Allama Bilal Salim of TLP and Ijaz Baloch of PSP are running against Bilawal. In NA-200 Larkana, PTI’s Haleema Bhutto, MMA’s Rashid Mehmood Soomro and PSP’s Mehboob Ali will contest against him.