Bye-polls in Punjab have turned the tables of political arithmetic. Imran Khan’s inswing has uprooted the PML-N’s confidence as well as its numerical strength on the floor of the house. Hamza Shehbaz is now a spent force and the PTI-PMLQ combine is all set to rule the roost. The landslide in favour of PTI in the bye-elections is a new precedent, and is surely owing to the hard-hitting campaign that the skipper conducted against all odds. PML-N burnt its fingers by allocating all the tickets to turncoats. It chose its own Waterloo for reasons of exigency. With PTI clinching 15 out of 20 seats and a debacle of sorts underway among League MPAs, change in the corridors of power is the writing on the wall.
Sunday’s polling saw a turnout of more than 40%, which proved to be in PTI’s favour. The verdict has come as a moment of realisation for the 13-party alliance, and has apparently pushed the envelope in making an earnest effort to uphold public opinion. PML-N’s loss on its home ground is a clarion call for the party in Punjab. PTI by making inroads in rural areas has come full circle and its popularity is there to stay. The point that this bye-election established is that Khan’s narrative of populism in politics is sellable and the victory could be a prelude to change on the broader horizon. The federal government, which hangs on a wafer-thin majority of two votes, will feel the heat as allies contemplate their new inclinations. The emergent huddles that respective political parties have summoned, including the PTI, to ponder over the fissures of Sunday’s vote could foment new realignments.
A good omen that the bye-elections came up with is the assured neutrality of the Establishment, as well as a handoff approach of the Election Commission. This has ushered confidence among the masses, and the misgivings that partialism is at work at state level stands nullified to a great extent. It is time to transform the synergies of a peaceful ballot into harmony on the floor of the house.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2022.
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