Punjab witnesses three-way fight

The oft-repeated PML-N’s proposal regarding seat adjustment with Jahangir Khan Tareen’s newly launched Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) seems to aim at taking the wind out of the PPP sails, which also wants to capitalise on the new window of opportunity and expand its presence in Punjab.

However, the PPP leaders believe that the new alliance will not be able to undercut the party’s position and recent gains in Punjab, citing their party’s victory over the PML-N in the recent by-election in AJK.

On Friday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif denied that the newly formed party posed any threat to the PML-N, hinting at the possibility of seat adjustment with Tareen’s party in the upcoming general elections.

Though Tareen and Aleem Khan had played a key role in helping the PML-N and the PPP turn the tables on their former party, the PML-N holding out an olive branch to Tareen’s party is tantamount to preempting the PPP’s bid to capture the “throne of Lahore”.

PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, who has been encamping in Lahore since last week to seize on the political opportunity, has managed to build a momentum for his party, leaving behind even the PML-Q that also swung into action, lately. The success of Zardari’s stay in Lahore can be judged from the fact that close to three-dozen leaders from different constituencies had joined the PPP.

The PPP’s main goal was to bring ‘electables’ from South Punjab into its folds. Interestingly, Tareen’s party, too, is mainly focused on capturing ground in southern Punjab and the Potohar region, according to several leaders that The Express Tribune has spoken to.

Read Tareen forms new political party

Former PTI leader Raja Yawar Kamal, now part of the IPP, said the new party was expected to grab most of the seats from south Punjab and the Potohar region.
He said in the two regions, electables enjoyed a sizable support base, and party affiliation did not matter much. The urban areas is where Tareen’s party is expected to fare poorly, he added. “The IPP is a new party and it would take time to find traction in the urban populace.”

Another former PTI leader, who also joined Tareen’s camp, said the PML-N indicating a prospective seat adjustment, was a boast for their party, one that would bring many more strong players into its folds.

A former PPP parliamentarian from south Punjab said that the IPP and the PML-N going for seat adjustment would dent the PPP’s drive in Punjab. He said that though it seems like an unnatural alliance, as far as the political strategy goes, it was spot on. He said that electables, especially from southern Punjab, that the PPP is trying to woo into its folds would now be tempted to join the IPP knowing that it has no competitors. He said that there was nothing much the PPP could do at this stage other than putting on blinkers and focusing on its own game. He said that realistically, they should be expecting to win 15 to 20 seats in Punjab.

When asked about the PML-N extending support to the IPP, former Punjab parliamentary leader Hasan Murtaza said the PPP has come to power on crutches. “Those who think such kind of alliances will diminish the PPP’s chances of regaining Punjab, are living in a fool's paradise.”

He said that the PPP’s victory in AJK had showed that they were the most popular party in the country.