Can Sheikh Rashid pull a blinder?
By Irfan Ghauri
RAWALPINDI: Riding the sympathy wave after a recent attempt on his life coupled with strong canvassing, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Awami Muslim League is likely to get a run for his money in the NA-55 by-election for which campaign end at midnight on Monday.
In this constituency of 334,269 voters, 22 candidates are running for the national assembly seat with the Pakistan Peoples Party vote playing a crucial role in shaping up the election results.
The six-time winner from the constituency in a row until 2008 when his surety bond was confiscated in the general elections, Sheikh Rashid forced the top PML-N leadership into coming to the constituency on the last day of the campaign to drum up support for its candidate, Malik Shakeel Awan, amid security risks.
Political observers see the situation Nawaz verses all, saying the anti-PPP vote of the right wing will go to the Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, which boycotted the 2008 general elections but vigorously run their campaigns, besides other candidates.
The JI fielded an old, tested guard, Dr Kamal, while PTIs Ejaz Khan Jazi whose campaign was led by Imran Khan cannot be ignored in the whole scenario.
Former Kings Party now led by Chaudhrys of Gujrat has openly extended support of Sheikh Rashid, while the PPP is said to be in tacit understanding with the AML chief, whose second tier leadership in the city is persuading the Zardari-led ruling partys workers to back him to change the myth that the constituency has always been for Nawaz. The PPP workers organised corner meetings for Rashid but also, many of the polling agents he has chosen to monitor polling stations are said to be from the PPP.
During the election campaign, Sheikh not only tried to benefit from the recent bid on his life, but also he promised to continue working for improving education facilities and completing mega development projects announced during the PML-Q government.
The PML-N, on the other hand, focused on the anti-Sheikh strategy highlighting wrongdoings of the Musharraf government of which the AML chief was also a part.
Both PTI, which is poplar among youngsters, and Jamaat-e-Islami campaigned for a change in system while criticising both the PPP and the PML-N.
It is believed that the PPP has 25,000 to 30,000 votes in the constituency and the JI 5,000 to 8,000. PTIs Ejaz Khan Jazi grabbed 12205 votes in the 2008 by-election from the constituency as an independent candidate. Sheikh Rashid fielded by the PML-Q faced embarrassing defeat in the said election by bagging 15,870 votes only.
PPPs candidate Malik Aamer Fida Paracha bagged 37,397 votes in the 2008 general election, which was won by Makhdoom Javed Hashmi of the PML-N with a big margin. He secured 76,980 votes in the contest, which was considered anti-Musharraf referendum.
The PML-N popularity, however, declined during the months ahead and that was highlighted by the win of PML-N candidate Haji Pervez Khan, who secured 25,237 votes. The seat was later vacated a year later after he was found guilty of cheating in an examination.
In a situation where it seems Nawaz verses all, if its candidate Shakeel Awan, a worker from the grassroots level, becomes the MNA, itll be another PML-N landmark. However, observers see it, as not easy a contest for the PML-N after Sheikh Rashid by playing thoughtfully during the campaign has made it an interesting if not razor-edge contest.
