The election campaign has barely started. The fever has not really caught up this time around, less than a month away from the most awaited polls in recallable memory. Expect the parties to up the ante and go out in the masses seeking votes. But what do they (the parties) have to offer the masses while asking for votes? Some say they have performance, court cases, name calling.

What they do not have this time around, at least not yet, are manifestos. Back in 2013, the three major political parties had gone into the campaign with the respective manifestos already out in the public. The PPP had it announced it 55 days prior to the election day, PML-N 44, and PTI 31. Reasonable time for a healthy debate and analyses on each other’s programs one would say.

But that is not the case anymore. Recall that in 2013, manifestos were presented with much fanfare, after hard rounds of consultation within the parties, and even the business community had shown great interest, with the likes of the PBC making efforts to get their point across. The manifestos may still come, although, no dates have been announced by the major parties.

It increasingly appears that the leading contenders are either overly confident of reaching the masses without a plan, or the collective wisdom of masses does not demand a definitive plan from the future rulers.

The PTI, for instance, may well have spent more time on sorting out the infighting that has now become its hallmark. That, or the ‘electables’ instill overriding confidence that they can conquer the battleground without a manifesto. The PTI may well have some progress to show for in the KPK province, mostly in social indicators. The fielding of candidates in KPK also tells the party did not have to fall back to electables, backing the electoral dynamics of KPK and the confidence in its performance.

But in the battleground that is Punjab, PTI cannot sell its KPK performance. Firstly, because it is not as visible. Secondly, the rival’s own performance in Punjab is strong, visible and tangible enough to be the core of their campaign. This, to an extent, goes on to explain why the PTI’s campaign in Punjab would revolve more around court cases – and less around challenging the rival’s performance or narrating their own.

The manifesto absence from the PML-N camp is rather more surprising, as they been at the helm for five years, and would happen to know the game plan better than rivals. Not that the PML-N did a great job sticking to or achieving the 2013 manifesto target, but such a document does give insight into how a particular government intends to deal with certain pressing issues. Given the mess that the economy is in today, it would probably be almost embarrassing for the PML-N to reissue the previous manifesto. They too, seem to be banking on the hard infrastructure in the urban centers, and the legal proceedings in the rural.

This leaves PPP. Well, they have probably figured out that the chances of just being able to rule (one part of) a province does not call for going through the whole manifesto exercise. In all likelihood, the manifestos would still be out some day before the elections. But be very sure, none of it would be the basis of thee parties’ campaigns.