Train journey to nowhere

The first-ever political train-journey of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (BBZ), chairman Pakistan People’s Party, ended in Bhuttos’ hometown Larkana on April 4, on the death anniversary of his grandfather and founder of PPP Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

The journey, which was first projected as train-march, meant to be a large scale anti-government campaign, later proved to be an occasion to mobilise the party workers at the districts’ level on the occasion of the death anniversary of ZAB.

"We don’t want to topple the government," said Bilawal. "The next call we give will be for a long march," he cautioned on reaching his destination, dispelling the impression that it was a march against the government.

Bilawal led this three-day train-march, titled "Karvan-e-Bhutto", which started last Tuesday morning, and concluded a day before ZAB’s death anniversary at Larkana. During the journey, BBZ addressed people at Hyderabad, Tando Adam, Nawabshah, Khairpur Mirs, and Rohri among other destinations.

However, senior journalist and columnist Mazhar Abbas thinks the first phase of party’s anti-government march was a political gamble which Bilawal has apparently lost. "It was a failed attempt to motivate people against the government. Later, the party itself declared this train-march into a train-journey -- to nowhere."

He says the march was announced at a time when "the party’s top leadership was facing multiple cases of alleged corruption and the opposition was not united either. It was a test as to how prepared the party is for any anti-government movement and it badly failed.

"We will see how BBZ conducts himself and whether he is ready to adopt a serious role in opposition."

In his more than two-dozen speeches along the journey, BBZ repeatedly said the slogan of ""change" by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had failed to impress the public. He also criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which, allegedly, is being used for political engineering. Many senior leaders of the PPP, including the party chairman and co-chairman, are facing NAB investigations in different cases. These leaders include chairman BBZ, Co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, former Sindh CM Qaim Ali Shah, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and former minister Sharjeel Memon.

PPP chairman spokesperson Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, talking to TNS clarifies that there was closure of air space and flights were suspended in those days due to Pak-India conflict. "Seeing the situation, the chairman decided to go to Larkana by train and to interact with people in different districts for political mobilisation," he says. "It was not a train-march but an opportunity to mobilise the party leadership and workers at district level and it went very well."

Khokhar believes such activities are helping the party chairman, "who is in the beginning of his parliamentary career, to build his narrative with clarity. The way BBZ is presenting himself in and outside the parliament as the opposition leader, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is no match to it. He is the de facto opposition leader."

In its central executive committee (CEC) held in Larkana last week, the PPP decided to continue the ‘Karvan-i-Bhutto’ throughout the country. The objective will remain political mobilisation and exposing the alleged incompetent PTI-government that "has failed to resolve people’s problems."

"I think Bilawal’s train-journey did not make much impact because it could not attract masses at the national level or large scale," says political analyst Zahid Hussain. "His speeches had no countrywide impact on the party because the issue which he highlighted was in defence of his father who is facing NAB cases. People want to see BBZ away from the shadow of his father."

In the long run, says Hussain, "the party has to reinvent itself to attract people in Punjab where they have lost all ground and to make BBZ an independent chairman coming out of his father’s influence. Bilawal received a warm welcome when he entered the political arena some two years back but, gradually, his speeches are losing clarity."