Daily Times

LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s entry into the world of mainstream politics to run her mother Begum Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif’s campaign in the NA-120 Lahore-III by-election has given rise to a new wave of courage and strength to the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) workers.

Though the political activist and daughter of the deposed premier Main Nawaz Sharif started the campaign in the constituency in absence of her party candidate and mother very late, she succeeded in attracting voters through her personal appearance and striking speeches.

After the announcement of the schedule for by-election in NA-120 on her father’s vacant seat, the ruling Nawaz League did not move in a hurry to the constituency and waited until last week, when Maryam Nawaz could take the campaign into her hands after her mother’s departure for London for treatment of throat cancer diagnosed by British doctors.

Due to absence of the nominated candidate of PML-N Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, who is considered a more prominent and uncontroversial personality, even among the opponents, the workers of the party were demoralised as no guideline was being given to them by the party leadership for running the campaign.

The PML-N Lahore chapter in the early days of the by-election campaign just installed some flexes on the main roads in the constituency parallel to the opposition parties’ and their nominated candidates’ advertisements, including those of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

Maryam Nawaz started holding meetings of the party workers and leaders related to the NA-120 at Model Town on August 25 for observing the by-election campaign from a distance, but later she announced to jump into the campaign last Tuesday when she inaugurated the main campaign office of the PML-N in Mozang area of the constituency.

PML-N workers who were demoralised after not getting any guidelines for running their party leader Kulsoom Nawaz’s election campaign got a kick by the appearance of Maryam among them as the chief campaigner.

During the visit to the constituency, Daily Times learnt that three to five campaign offices in every union council falling in the constituency have been opened by party workers to initiate door-to-door campaign, while flex banners, posters and some huge hoardings have also been displayed on main roads in NA-120.

Talking to this scribe, PML-N workers showed their enthusiasm with the commitment to win the contest under the motivation and leadership of Maryam Nawaz, as people believe in the leadership of the Sharif family for being progressive and patriotic, which was necessary for the development of Pakistan.

Union Council (UC) 58 Chairman Shahab Basharat said that morale of the party workers had skyrocketed after the entry of Maryam Nawaz, something that encouraged the workers to launch a door-to-door campaign. He said that the voters were giving them a good response.

Ahmad Malik, an activist of the PML-N in Krishan Nagar area, said that Maryam Nawaz had taken the charge of the campaign, so now the workers who were not active had started the campaign to ensure that Begum Kulsoom Nawaz would be victorious in the election.

PML-N Union Council President Rabia Nusrat told this scribe that they got a very good response from the female voters, especially the housewives, after the participation of Maryam Nawaz in her mother’s campaign. She said that mostly the ladies confirmed to them during the door-to-door campaign that they loved the lion.

When asked about the major question raised by the female voters during the campaign, Rabia said that most of them asked for jobs for their well educated but jobless children, as this constituency had a good population of educated middle class.

The PML-N activists from Outfall Road and Mohni Road areas, including Haji Ishaque, Haji Zahoor, Malik Naseem and Chaudhry Abdus Sattar Jalandhari said that though they had started the proper campaign for their candidate Begum Kulsoom Nawaz, it gained momentum after Maryam Nawaz’s campaign on a daily basis.

General Councillor from Qila Gujar Singh area Mohammad Nadir Khan Shakir and District Council Member from Sanat Nagar Malik Hidayat Khokhar said that the voters of the PML-N were happy after the entry of Maryam Nawaz for participating in the by-election campaign, and now the party would get better results in the election on September 17, as party activists had come out of the homes to ensure the win.

PML-N Lahore Chapter Joint Secretary Imran Butt, showing full confidence to win the election under the command of Maryam Nawaz, said that his party would defeat opponents by more than 60,000 votes as compare to the last win by 41,000 votes because the party workers loved Begum Kulsoom Nawaz as a mother.

Published in Daily Times, September 2^nd 2017.