Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari formally initiated his election campaign from NA-127 Lahore on Thursday.
The party aims to leverage the perceived political vacuum created by the establishment in Pakistan.
With the main rival, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), still deliberating on ticket allocations for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), PPP leaders have been actively canvassing for votes in their respective constituencies.
According to the party’s central Punjab chief, a majority of aspiring candidates have already received confirmation regarding ticket allocations, making the official announcement a mere formality.
PPP has unveiled its 10-point agenda as part of its manifesto, with the official manifesto set to be revealed in the coming days, as announced by the party’s information secretary.
In contrast, PML-N, despite forming a manifesto committee over a month ago, has not made any public announcements regarding its plans.
The recent introduction of an online portal by PML-N to gather public input on its manifesto suggests that the process is not in its advanced stages.
Bilawal, who will contest elections from three constituencies, including NA-127 Lahore and the party stronghold Larkana, visited his election office at Green Town in Lahore to formally launch the campaign.
During his election campaign trail, he would address rallies in Faisalabad (Jan 11), Layah (Jan 12), Bahawalpur (Jan 13), Balochistan’s Naseerabad (Jan 14), Sindh’s Larkana (Jan 15), Qambar Shahdadkot (Jan 16) Badin and Sanghar (Jan 17), Nowshero Feroz and Dadu (Jan 18), Rahim Yar Khan (Jan 19) Kot Daud (Jan 20), Lahore (Jan 21), Chiniot (Jan 23), Sarghoda (Jan 24), Lala Musa (Jan 25) Multan (Jan 26), Peshawar (Jan 27) , Rawalpindi (Jan 28), Kurram (Jan 29), DI Khan (Jan 30), Malakand (Jan 31), Khuzdar (Feb 1), Kashmor and Shikarpur (Feb 2) Mirpurkhas (Feb 3), Hyderabad (Jan 4) and his second last rally as per schedule would be in Karachi (Jan 5).
The decision to contest from Lahore is seen as a strategic move, countering PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to contest from Karachi NA-242.
The PPP aims to secure NA-127 Lahore, building on the momentum gained from the December 2021 by-election results, where the party’s candidate secured significant votes. The move is also seen as an effort to mitigate the risk of a complete loss for the party in Punjab.
The party sees the absence of PTI from the political arena as a golden opportunity to capitalize on anti-PML-N votes. The PML-N is expected to issue the NA-127 ticket to its Deputy General Secretary Ata Tarar.
Meanwhile, Mayor Murtaza Wahab asserted that the people of Karachi demonstrated their support for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in the local government elections held on January 15, 2023, citing the party’s perceived capability to address the city’s issues.
The mayor expressed these sentiments during the ‘Meeting the Editors’ program organized by the Council of Newspaper Editors (CPNE) on Thursday.
“We worked for the resolution of the issues of the people of Karachi with sincerity. The development work will continue. People think that the next government will be of the PPP as they see Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as a viable leader,” the mayor said.
Wahab attributed the success of the Jamaat-e-Islami in the local government elections to the boycott by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
