The Unstoppable Khan

Masses are convinced that Imran’s government was unlawfully removed through a foreign conspiracy

If there’s anyone who has benefited tremendously from the ouster of ex-premier Imran Khan’s government last April, through a vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly, it is none other than Imran Khan himself.

The cricketer-turned-politician’s popularity had been waning to an extent towards the fag end of his government’s near four-year tenure, but his abrupt removal from power has massively turned the tide in his favour, which has been evident from the PTI’s landslide victory in the Punjab by-polls last month.

Besides, the overwhelming response from the people who have thronged his jalsas in droves across the country in the past few months is ample proof that the Khan-mania is here to stay.

Contrary to the reports from a section in the media that have painted Imran Khan to be a worried man following the ECP’s decision on the prohibited funding case, he has exuded unprecedented confidence by announcing that he will be contesting the by-polls on Sept 25 on all the nine seats, simultaneously.

It is pertinent to mention that NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf had accepted the resignation of 11 PTI members on July 28, exactly 109 days after they had resigned from their respective seats and the by-polls on the seats will be held on Sept 25.

“Imran Khan’s popularity as a leader has been enhanced manifold after the abrupt removal of his government,” the sources told Bol News. “The masses are convinced that his (Imran’s) government was unlawfully removed through a foreign conspiracy and the Shehbaz Sharif-led coalition government has only grabbed power for personal gains, with a common goal of getting rid of the many corruption cases against them by rendering prime probe bodies such as NAB and FIA National Accountability Bureau (NAB) toothless.

Commenting on the situation at hand, senior analyst Lieutenant General (retd) Ghulam Mustafa said that it is definitely an unprecedented move from one of the most popular leaders of Pakistan to contest on nine seats simultaneously.

“That is a testament to his guts and confidence. Imran Khan is contesting on nine seats at the same time because he wants to prove that he is popular in all parts of the country as these are National Assembly by-polls which are scheduled to be held in Sindh, Punjab and KP,” Mustafa said.

He further pointed out that the PDM had cleverly accepted the resignations of the PTI members on those seats where they felt they could beat PTI convincingly. “However, Imran has made a bigger political move by nominating himself in all the nine constituencies and have completely taken the PDM by surprise.”

“If he (Imran) manages to win all of these constituencies, it will strengthen his election campaign in the next general elections,” Mustafa said.

Agreeing with him, acclaimed political analyst Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi said, “We have witnessed in general elections in the political history of Pakistan that key political figures do contest on more than one seat, like Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto once contested on six seats and Imran Khan also contested on five National Assembly seats in 2018. But yes, “contesting on nine is a record of sorts.”

In 2018, Imran while contesting on five seats defeated some of the political heavy weights including PML-N’s stalwarts Khawaja Saad Rafique (NA-131 in Lahore) and ex-premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Islamabad (NA-53). He had also managed to secure Bannu (NA-35), NA-243 in Karachi, and his home constituency in Mianwali (NA-95).

Dr Askari was of the opinion that if Imran Khan manages to snatch 7 to 8 constituencies, he would be able to assert some sort of pressure on the institutions including the military establishment and the ECP go for early general elections.

Seasoned analyst Ayaz Amir said it is definitely an unprecedented move by any key political leader in the history of Pakistan that Imran has decided to contest from all by-polls constituencies.

“Imran Khan wants to further establish the fact that he is the most popular leader of Pakistan. And although he has been ousted from the government, he and his party has gained among the masses while Shehbaz Sharif led federal government’s graph has nosedived.”

However, the acclaimed political analyst believed that even if Imran manages to clinch all of the by-poll seats, the government or the state institutions are unlikely to bow down to his earlier demand for general elections in October.

“The general elections could be only held early if things get completely out of control and even Imran Khan has realised that early elections would damage him more,” observed Amir. “That’s why he also said in a recent press conference that the only way forward is the free and fair elections,” Amir concluded.

The political insiders, however, said that it remains a million dollar question as to which candidates would be fielded by the joint coalition government against Imran Khan in the next month’s by-polls. “Will they dare to accept Imran’s challenge by announcing any of the heavyweight in the nine constituencies is the key question here,” the sources said while adding that it is very unlikely and the coalition government has been having nightmares since the day Imran Khan has announced his candidature in all the nine constituencies.

The by polls would be held in NA-22 Mardan-III; NA-24, Charsadda-II; NA-31 Peshawar-V; NA-45 Kurram-I; NA-108 Faisalabad VIII; NA-118 Nankana Sahib- II; NA-237 Malir- II; NA-239 Korangi Karachi- I and NA-246 Karachi South I.