Imran Khan’s loyalists triumph, betrayers bite the dust

Pervez Khattak’s PTI-P couldn’t win a single seat; Jahangir Tareen’s IPP face drubbing

KARACHI:

The loyalists of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan – some of them political nobodies – have defied all odds and emerged triumphant, beating political juggernauts in the high-stakes general elections held on February 8. While Khan’s loyalists emerged victorious, those who betrayed him received humiliating drubbing despite having support of the powerful circles in the country.

The PTI was under the state’s wrath after the May 9 attacks on national security installations nationwide. Every effort was made to literally erase Khan’s party from the political arena by jailing its top leadership and workers, forcing them to change loyalties or give up politics, and imposing a media blackout on their activities.

It became extremely difficult to stay loyal to Khan.

Prominent among those who ditched Khan was Pervez Khattak, a former chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He jumped ship to form a splinter group by the name of PTI-Parliamentarians. Sugar cartel Jahangir Tareen – who was once in the inner sanctum of Khan – also cobbled up a party, Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), apparently at the behest of powers that be to woo PTI deserters.

However, both the parties received humiliating drubbing in the elections.

During canvassing, Khattak had made bold claims that he would be the next chief minister of K-P and that the PTI-backed independents would also align with him after winning.

Also read: Giants suffer drubbing

Tareen, on the other hand, had bigger dreams. His IPP cut a seats-adjustment deal with the PML-N, and he claimed that together they would form governments at the Centre and in Punjab. However, his party could muster only two seats in the National Assembly from Lahore — one by Aleem Khan and the other by Aon Chaudhry. Both face allegations of massive rigging and their rivals are challenging their wins.

Ironically, Khattak and Tareen both couldn’t win their own seats.

The PTI-P has been literally wiped out. Khattak’s two sons and a son-in-law were contesting from all seven seats in Nowshera, but couldn’t win any one of these. A young political rookie, who was backed by the PTI, trounced them with big margins.

This begs the questions: why did voters reject political heavyweights like Khattak and Tareen?

“In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the parties that criticised Imran Khan have been rejected by the people and are limited to one or two seats, while Khattak, who aimed to break away from the party, has faced a humiliating defeat,” senior journalist Laiq Ali Khan told BBC Urdu.

Also read: PML-N victories in Punjab challenged in LHC

Khattak also faced strong public backlash during the electoral campaign, with people chanting slogans against him during his corner meetings and rallies.

“Pervez Khattak had so much confidence in himself during the election campaign that he constantly presented himself as the future chief minister,” senior journalist Ali Akbar told BBC Urdu. “After this drubbing, he will have to reconsider not relying on anyone other than the power of the people,” he added.

Another prominent figure in Khattak’s breakaway faction of PTI, former chief minister Mahmood Khan, contested from two constituencies and lost both.

According to Ali Akbar, in this election, it became evident that the public has independently evaluated the situation, and the results demonstrate that these candidates owed their success in the 2013 and 2018 elections to Imran Khan, not because of Khattak or Mahmood’s individual performance.

Moreover, at the grassroots level there was resentment towards them for their betrayal of Khan, which voters expressed through their votes.

Senior journalist Irfan Khan believes the love for Imran Khan is widespread in the country. “Although Khattak and Mahmood held prominent positions in the provincial government, their popularity and performance were overshadowed by Imran Khan’s policies and populism,” he further stated.

When Imran Khan and his party faced difficult times, it wasn't only in K-P that politicians jumped ship. Some political heavyweights from Punjab also betrayed Khan to form their own party.

Tareen’s IPP contested 12 seats in the National Assembly and 37 seats in the Punjab Assembly. The party also cut a seats-adjustment deal with the PM-N. However, results show it could win only two seats – one of them is currently subject to a stay by the Lahore High Court.

The IPP was supposed to rope in the independent candidates supported by PTI for the Sharifs.

Analysts say that the current results have surprised everyone and proved all pre-poll analyses wrong. Despite vigorous campaigns against him, Khan's narrative has resonated not only in K-P but also in Punjab. This is why neither IPP in Punjab nor Khattak's party in K-P could show any significant performance.