Jamshed Dasti fails to grab seat in South Punjab

Slogan of Seraiki province and fight against feudalism did not benefit Dasti this time

MUZAFFARGARH: Jamshed Ahmad Khan Dasti, the leader of Awami Raaj Party (ARP), who won consecutive two elections in 2008 and 2013, failed to secure even a single seat in South Punjab this time.

Dasti was contesting polls on four seats of the national assembly including NA-182 (earlier NA 176) in Muzaffargarh city, NA-184 (earlier NA-178) in a rural area of Khan Garh and Shah Jamal, NA-185 (earlier NA-179) between Alipur and Jatoi and NA-189 (earlier NA-171) in Taunsa.

As per the unofficial results, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won three seats of the national assembly out of total six seats in Muzaffargarh district. In NA-182, Arshad Siyal of PPP won the seat. In NA-184, Nawabzada Iftikhar of PPP won and in NA-183, PPP’s Raza Rabbani Khar, the brother of former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, was declared victorious. In NA-189, PTI’s candidate Khawaja Sheraz secured the seat.



Among 12 seats of the provincial assembly, two were won by PML-N, one by ARP, six by PTI and three by independent candidates. In PP-268, Malik Ghulam Qasim Hijra of PML-N won. In PP-269 Azhar Abbas of PML-N was declared successful. In PP-270, Muhammad Ajmal Chandia of ARP won. In PP-271, Nawabzada Mansoor Khan of PTI won. In PP-275, independent candidate Khurram Sohail Leghari won. In PP 276, Aun Hameed Dogar of PTI won and in PP-277 Alamdar Qureshi, an independent candidate, secured the victory.

Awami Raj Party had fielded 30 candidates in various districts of South Punjab but could not secure even a single seat for the national assembly.

The slogan of Seraiki province and fight against feudalism did not benefit Dasti and his party this time in Muzaffargarh. The slogan of Dasti was in Seraiki language ‘assaan qaidi takht Lahore day” (we are the prisoners of the throne of Lahore) and announced his struggle against the feudal lords and corruption.

Political pundits compared Jamshed Ahmad Khan Dasti with Arvind Kejriwal, leader of Aam Admi Party founded in India in 2012. They were of the view that both Kejriwal and Dasti wanted to empower the deprived section of society.

Having a madrassah degree with no property and financial support, Dasti stepped in politics in 2005 for the seat of Nazim. In 2008, Dasti won from NA-178 by receiving 53,817 votes but the elections were declared null because the court has disqualified him over a fake degree. In 2010, he again contested by-polls from the same constituency and won once again. Dasti gained popularity during the floods of 2010 when he himself rescued people and their cattle by swimming with the personnel of rescue teams.

General elections of 2013 increased his popularity graph as he won two seats of the national assembly NA-177 and NA-178 after defeating the Nawab and the Khar families. His major turn over in the politics came when he defeated Ghulam Noor Rabbani Khar, father of former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who contested on the ticket of PPP.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2018.