Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), waves to his supporters from the sunroof of a vehicle, during a campaign rally ahead of general election in the Lyari neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan July 1, 2018. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro
Hardly a month before the general elections, banners proclaiming ‘No more PPP’ started cropping up in different parts of Lyari. The voices of dissent among the party’s ranks grew louder, particularly over the issue of allotment of party tickets as local leaders felt ignored or sidelined. The frustration boiled over when portraits, banners, signboards and hoardings bearing photos and messages of the party’s candidates were wrecked.
The Lyari seat is where Benazir Bhutto claimed her first victory in politics in 1988 as a National Assembly member. But even before Benazir’s time, the PPP had been sweeping the Lyari seat since its formation in 1967. Residents expressed an unconditional love for Benazir, but at the same time, have often been neglected when it comes to development and security.
Rocky welcome for Bilawal in PPP ‘stronghold’
In the 2013 general elections, this area was part of the NA-248 constituency, however, it is now a part of NA-246 after the new delimitations.
The constituency’s Rangiwara, Singho Lane, Chakiwara, Bakra Piri, Shah Baig Lane, Baghdadi, Kalri and Nawabad areas are dominated by the Baloch, the Agra Taj Colony, Daryabad and Khadda Market areas by the Sindhi and Kutchi communities while Bihar Colony has a majority of Urdu-speaking population. Three provincial assembly seats, PS-107, PS-108 and PS-109, fall under this constituency.
Contesting candidates
The PPP has fielded its chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for the NA-246 seat while Farooq Sattar is contesting from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Abdul Shakoor from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Saleem Zia from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Ejaz Ahmed is contesting the NA-246 seat on Pak Sarzameen Party’s (PSP) ticket, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s Molana Noorul Haq on Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s (MMA) ticket and Muhammad Ahmed on Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) ticket.
Bilawal Bhutto submits nomination papers for NA-246 Lyari
Civic condition in PPP’s tenure
The residents of Lyari faced severe law and order situation and gang wars until before the Karachi operation, especially in this constituency. The residents continue to be deprived of basic necessities, such as access to potable water.
“Clean drinking water is what we need now and whosoever gives it to us, will get our vote,” an old resident of the area, Shakoor Ahmed said, adding that every election, the candidates knock on their doors to ask for votes and promise to provide them drinking water. “But the promises are all made in vain. We will vote only for those who can supply us with potable water,” he stressed.
Adding to the residents’ misery, the constituency’s streets are strewn with garbage and surrounded by overflowing gutters despite the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board’s presence in the area.
Religious and disgruntled vote
The presence of MMA, TLP and PTI could potentially dent the PPP’s vote bank in the area. According to JI’s Syed Abdul Rasheed, who is contesting the PS-108 seat on MMA’s ticket, there is a large Deobandi vote in Lyari which he believes will go to the MMA.
The Kutchi community, he said, is mostly Barelvi and they can definitely dent the PPP’s vote bank by giving votes to TLP instead. The MMA, he said, is in a strong position and will definitely give a tough time to the PPP.
Meanwhile, PPP’s Naz Baloch thinks that the people of Lyari are emotionally attached to the PPP. “People of Lyari are the strength of the PPP,” she said, agreeing that there are issues in Lyari which their government has always tried to address.
With reporting from Oonib Azam
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2018.
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