Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari appears to have started making waves. Organising an impressive election rally in Lahore yesterday in Lahore by Bilawal has added to the richness of the election scene.

Winning in Punjab in general and Lahore in particular is critical to forming the government after the Feb 8 elections in the country. Therefore, Bilawal cannot afford to show any complacency insofar as Punjab is concerned.

That is why perhaps he made a desperate call to the workers of a beleaguered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to vote for his party’s candidates. That Bilawal has stepped up criticism of Nawaz Sharif in recent days is a fact, given the contest is going to be between his party and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Despite the near-ruination of PTI the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has successfully accomplished in recent days and months, Bilawal’s electoral prospects in the largest province of the country in terms of population and the number of National Assembly seats are hamstrung by not only PML-N but newly-formed Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP)of Jahangir Tareen.

Overall, however, Bilawal’s nationwide position is better than Nawaz Sharif’s in view of the fact that in rural Sindh former’s party faces little or no opposition. It has even improved its prospects in all urban areas of Sindh, including Karachi, as well.

It is interesting to note that KPK is now positively responding to both PPP and PML-N to the chagrin of PTI, which is now in absolute disarray. In a nutshell, it can be safely argued that Punjab matters more than any other province or all the remaining three provinces combine insofar as the formation of the government is concerned.

Mehtab Mirza (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024