Daily Times

In positioning himself in the home ground of roaring Lions, PPP’s Chairman took on a whacking political gamble. But Sunday’s phenomenal election rally saw him standing before a thumping cricket ground full of aficionados as he pledged to advocate an end to politics characterised by vengeance and hatred.

It remains to be seen what would become of PML(N)’s increasingly visible reluctance to step into the people’s court. However, one thing is certain: their fear is highly palpable. Where the House of Sharif suffers from not having a political narrative of defiance or championing fundamental rights, Mr Bhutto Zardari has reinvigorated the manifesto of his grandfather, modelling it after the realistic blueprint followed by Sindh. Emphasising a departure from 1990s-style politics, he has urged a shift toward the principles embodied by his late mother, Benazir Bhutto, rather than those of military rulers Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf.

Of course, it would do well for PPP to painstakingly work on a thorough and broad-based research plan to back up their policy initiatives after February 8. There’s a lot about doubled incomes and free electricity units that are raising eyebrows and triggering suspicion yet even his fiercest critics would fumble for answers when asked for a performance review.

For now, the masses seem ready to don the tri-colour flag, which should be a primary concern for Attaullah Tarar in general and the entire Lion leadership. Their party appears sandwiched between the unforgivable and extremely recent failures of the PDM government against skyrocketing inflation and an overarching disregard for protecting democratic liberties; enticed by the sweet smell of power and ready to ignore the wishes of their voters. NA-127 might be a small sliver of a large pie but in the overarching game of optics, a victory on the stomping ground would go a long way in upsetting the scales. *