The Pakistani Spectator

Whatever strange dishes may be cooked by the opponents, the truth of the matter is that in NA-123 Lahore, the votebank only belongs to the PML-N. Hafiz Salman Butt may be hyper-active and Mian Hamid Miraj may have a clean reputed father, that doesn’t really stand them a chance to even intimidate any candidate with the asheerbad of Mian Nawaz Sharif, the head of PML-N.

NA-123 is not really like NA-55 in the sense, that there is no media-savvy Sheikh Rashid. Though the result was also obvious in the Rawalpindi as that city also belongs to the PML-N, but media hype turned by-election in pindi into a national circus. But even that room is not available in the Lahore.

But this by-election has shown many darker sides of our politics. The most bizzare thing to be seen was the alliance of Jamat-e-Islami and the Pakistan People’s Party. Then the union between Jamat-e-Islami and the PML-Q. Another strange thing was the language used by the Imran Khan during public meetings.

Whatever the case, PML-N will be the winner, but they also need to concentrate on the development of this constituency in Northern Lahore, which is very underdeveloped, despite of the fact that Nawaz Sharif has himself won from this area numerous times. You need only go to the Ghoray Shah area of this NA-123 to see the dismal living conditions.

Nothing can be taken for granted in Pakistan.