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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Optimistic TLP fields candidates for Karachi by-elections

By Zia Ur Rehman
September 21, 2018

Encouraged by bagging a significant number of votes in July’s general elections and winning two Sindh Assembly seats in Karachi, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has announced that it would contest next month’s by-polls in different constituencies of the city.

The TLP, a Barelvi religious party, has issued a list of its candidates for Karachi’s four national and provincial assembly seats for which by-elections are scheduled to be conducted.

The newly formed group has made its entry into Sindh Assembly by winning two seats: PS-107, a District South constituency comprising different localities of Lyari, and PS-115, a District West constituency comprising Baldia Town. The party also made its presence felt in other constituencies, where it finished runner-up.

Most importantly, the TLP ranked second in District South’s NA-246 constituency comprising Lyari, bagging some 3,000 more votes than Pakistan Peoples Party’s young chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in its stronghold.  

Candidates

The TLP has again awarded ticket to Dr Syed Nawazul Huda, a PhD and statistician, for NA-243, a District East constituency vacated by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who won four more seats in different parts of the country.

For NA-247, a District South constituency vacated by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Arif Alvi after becoming the country’s president, the TLP has fielded Muhammad Suhail Siddiqui.

In the general elections the TLP had fielded its Karachi President Allama Syed Zaman Shah Jaffery. The TLP is in the strongest position in some of the localities of the constituency, such as Burnes Road and the old city area.

For PS-111, a District South constituency vacated by PTI leader Imran Ismail after becoming Sindh’s governor, the TLP has fielded Sikandar Agar, while Qurban Ali has been fielded in District Malir’s PS-87.

Less than a fortnight before the July 25 general elections, the TLP’s candidate for PS-87, Sharif Ahmed Khan, had died in a road traffic accident, following which the Election Commission of Pakistan notified the postponement of the race for the provincial assembly constituency.  

Barelvis’ lost turf

The TLP is an electoral front of the Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) that was formed to run a campaign for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, who was convicted and executed for the murder of the then Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer.

The TLP and its aggressive stance on blasphemy issues have attracted a significant number of like-minded people to the group. After succeeding in finding popularity among Barelvis, the group focused on electoral politics with the hope to become an influential stakeholder.

In Karachi, after the emergence of the TLP, Barelvi groups and local Milad committees have been supporting the outfit, considering an opportunity to revive the “Barelvi influence” in the metropolis.

The Jamiat-e-Ulema Pakistan (JUP), a Barelvi party, had won three of the seven NA seats in Karachi in the 1970 elections with a total vote share in the province of 7.4 per cent and three of the 11 in the controversial 1977 polls under the Pakistan National Alliance. However, after the emergence of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in 1978, the JUP lost its considerable vote bank.

Traditionally, most of the Barelvi groups, except the Sunni Tehreek, enjoyed a reputation of moderation and non-violence as followers of Sufism. But in recent years, especially after Taseer’s murder, Barelvi groups, especially the TLY, have become more violent on blasphemy-related issues and are gaining political and street power within their community.