Political Heavyweights Ramp Up Election Campaigns in Multan

Salman Raza
Multan:
After a lukewarm response in the initial days, electioneering gears up in Multan Division, the power castle of South Punjab, with political bigwigs eying maximum seats for their parties in the February 8 polls.
Gilanis, Quereshis, Bosans, Dogars, Mehrs, Tareens, and many more are in the running to secure National Assembly seats as the campaign finally picks up steam with massive campaigning, holding rallies and processions, and door-to-door contacts.
Like other parts of the country where political parties are toiling hard to attract people through new slogans and commitments, activity also gears up in Multan to lure the masses in whatever way the candidates can.
With each party claiming to be the only rescuer of the masses from menaces like poverty, inflation, and unemployment, once again the multiparty system holds sway in the country.
Therefore, campaigning by two big players, the PPP and the PML-N, enters the final phase as independent candidates claiming to be backed by PTI are also flexing muscles.
Despite internal and external challenges faced by the country, its political landscape is bustling with election activities and people, braving the odds of chilling cold weather, are making their voices loud and clear on a steady course to national balloting.
Specifically speaking of Multan district, it is divided into six National Assembly (NA) and 13 Punjab Provincial Assembly (PA) seats.
The city is home to several political heavyweights, like Yousaf Raza Gilani, former Prime Minister; Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former Foreign Minister; Sikandar Bosan, former Food Minister; and former Chief Whip in National Assembly, Amir Dogar.
Although feudal, businessmen, and the upper classes influence districts’ politics, the battle among candidates remains fierce owing to the effects of family influence, the party vote bank, and most importantly, the young voters who dominate the population.
Located in Punjab’s southern part, Multan is ranked as Pakistan’s 5th most populous city, with 3.06 million residents and a literacy rate of around 44 percent.
The total number of registered voters in the district is 2,077,281, with 1,115,853 male and 961,428 female voters in six national and 13 provincial assembly constituencies, where a total of 82 candidates are in the running for the polls.
As Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party, and other parties are contesting elections on one specific symbol for each party, the candidates claiming to be backed by Pakistan Tehrik Insaf (PTI) would contest as independent candidates having separate symbols as per the election rules for a party not holding intra-party elections as per the law.
Important among these independent candidates are stated to be Amir Dogar from NA-149, Zain Qureshi from NA-150, and Mehr Bano Qureshi from NA-151.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is all set to give tough time to its rivals in NA-148, the constituency of former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, with political pundits foreseeing a lively contest between him and Ahmed Hussain Dehr, a PML-N candidate.
Patron-in-Chief of the Istehkam Pakistan Party, Jahangir Khan Tarin, is another political stalwart contesting the election from NA-149. He will be trying his luck against Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar, the former Chief Whip in the National Assembly.
Rizwan Ahmad is the PPP candidate from this constituency.
In NA-150, Zain Qureshi, son of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, would be contesting against PPPP’s Rana Mahmood ul Hassan and PML-N’s Javed Akhtar Ansari.
As Qureshis and Gilanis are arch rivals in the district, Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s daughter Mehr Bano Qureshi would be contesting against Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son Ali Musa Gilani in NA-151.but the young, fiery orator Musa Gilani is actually anticipating a close contest with his PML-N rival Abdul Ghaffar Dogar.
PML-N’s Javed Ali Shah and PPP’s Abdul Qadir Gilani, another son of Yousaf Raza Gilani, would be face-to-face in NA-152.
The crucial dynamics for Multan’s politics have been the Biradri system, coupled with respect among rural people for the Pir families.
Wherever the party vote is supplemented by the spiritually associated vote, the position of candidates gets stronger.
The same situation remains when the party vote is supplemented by the Biradri vote.
Dr Muqarrab Akbar, Chairman of the Department of Political Science at Bahauddin Zakariya University, stated that, for a long time, the Biradri system has been an important factor behind voting behavior but this influential factor of caste and clan is gradually losing steam even in underdeveloped areas with the passage of time due to the social media boom and increased awareness among voters, he remarked.
He said that the people, irrespective of whatever circumstances they are surviving in, are tending to repose confidence in the current paradigm of politics.
They develop trust in democratic systems and think elections should bring positive change. Media and political campaigning also educated voters about their right and power to vote,” he added.
Meanwhile, PPP senior leader Yousuf Raza Gilani has stressed the importance of political stability, believing that the country would witness economic and political stability through free and fair elections.
President PML-N Multan, Bilal Butt, hoped to persuade the masses through an issue-oriented election campaign launched by his party and hopefully secure victory for the party.
Ejaz Hussain Janjua, a leader of Tehreek-e-Insaaf, also mentioned chalking out a strategy by his party to contest general elections diligently.