“Who is the Number Two?”

“In our politics the number twos are rather large in number…”

“What?”

“Nawaz Sharif would have his daughter as number two though if elections were held in the party maybe maybe…”

“Nawaz Sharif isn’t going to play the game like that silly – in my book the only impediment in the way of installing Maryam as Number One in his own lifetime is Nawaz Sharif himself – and once he is gone who knows!”

“But is she number two right now?”

“Well in Nawaz Sharif’s book she is…more like number 1 sub clause (b).”

“And in the PPP who is number one and who is number two?”

“The heirs to number one position are well defined so technically number one is Zardari sahib and number two are the Bhutto Zardaris and the riffraff who are in the running for number two slot in PML-N are clearly number three in PPP.”

“And in the Khan’s party?”

“The Khan is number one and the list of number two includes Shah Mehmood, not yet his daughter who has yet to win the elections, Asad Umar, Pervez Khattak…ah, I get the significance of your question as to who is number two now.”

“Could someone please tell Mr Jhagra that there is no number two in International Monetary Fund staff member in Islamabad. To be accurate there is no number one either, yes there is a resident representative but she has no power to influence the programme, she is here to monitor the implementation of the agreed programme and convey any lapse and adherence to head office and…”

“There is always a number two.”

“OK then let’s say number two collects newspaper cuttings, perhaps monitors the television channels, on those subjects that are of interest to the Fund in the head office…”

“Hey I would have you know that Mr Jhagra has a business administration degree from London…”

“Miftah Ismail has a PhD degree in public finance and political economy from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania though he has yet to win elections….”

“Hmmm, American school hunh!”

“Ismail, I admit, has yet to be able to use the political aspect of the degree but…wait…”

“Indeed, but there was one outcome of the Jhagra-Tarin audio: Miftah Ismail talking nineteen to the dozen was once again able to hog the airwaves.”

“Dear me.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022