Re: so what do you think will happen tomorrow in NA 122?
It is a misconception that Lahore is a ‘garh’ of any particular party. It may be a strong hold of PMLN at the moment, but this constituency was considered PPP stronghold previously, and now PTI has managed to get 72k votes. If you add PP145, and NA122, PTI all together has bagged more votes than PMLN in the same constituency.
Historically, Lahore has always welcomed political competition. Look at Karachi NA246 - MQM killing of 250 people in Baldia Town factory, their target killers’ arrest and confessions, plus truth of Salaut Mirza’s, yet there was no apparent dent in MQM’s vote bank, in fact they won by massive, and simply inflated margin. But the trend was opposite in Lahore, PTI bags PA seat against NS’ nephew and PMLN seeing reduction in its vote bank despite the narrow win for NA seat.
However in Lahore, PTI’s so called ‘corrupt’ candidate made PMLN ministers, MNAs, Prime Minister beg for every vote. 2k lead is more worrisome for PMLN than PTI. Besides, can anyone really say that Imran of all the people lost to Ayaz Sadiq by 9k votes in2013 when he couldn’t win against ‘shady’ Aleem Khan by 3k votes?
Anyway, but that’s the major difference between Lahore and Karachi politics. Lahories have traditionally appreciated popular opposition and competition. From founding fathers to dictators to democrats to religious parties, everyone has enjoyed a spell of grass root support here on the basis of ideologies, promises and performances, and one of the massive reason for this is a total absence of ethnic slogans. All kinds of politics sell in Lahore other than politics of ethnicity and language!
Lahore is to Pakistan politics, what Lords is to cricket. Home of competition and prestige.