The biggest take away from the Lodhran by-election is that while money talks not everyone likes what it has to say. This is a lesson that PTI must cram for; if it is not to repeat the failure of NA-154when this summer’s elections swing on by. Party chief Imran Khan has tried to put a positive spin on things. His ‘rookie’ candidate Ali Tareen did well to secure close to 92,000 popular votes (against the 116, 590 that went to the PMLN’s Iqbal Shah). Yet the question of ECP code of conduct violations aside, this is not good enough. For it skirts the fundamentals. Tareen junior is, after all, the son of the former PTI secretary general whom the SC court sent packing after it found him ‘dishonest’ in declaring his assets. Not only that, sugar mill owner Jahangir Tareen had been described as one of Pakistan’s wealthiest lawmakers. It was therefore a misguided move on PTI’s part to have the son try and fill the father’s old boots. Especially considering that Tareen junior is overseas studying for a post-graduate degree. Meaning that what constituents need are entirely accessible political representatives who live locally to better understand prevailing challenges. This is clearly not the case and has naturally prompted speculation that, in a different outcome, Tareen senior would have been running the show from behind-the-scenes. The time has come to call a spade a spade. For all the PTI claims of not playing feudal or dynasty politics — this appears to be exactly what is happening; regardless of how much intra-party consultation did or did not take place before awarding Ali Tareen his father’s ticket. The citizenry is less likely to be forgiving of those who sweep on to the scene with much big talk of overhauling the system so that it becomes ‘owned’ by the people for the people and then are seen not only failing to deliver but actively maintaining the status quo. Thus the question remains as to whether Imran Khan and his party have lost the moral high ground. The people of Lodhran may have given their verdict. For the ‘disgraced’ Jahangir Tareen not only continually appears by his former boss’s side — he was even seen helicoptering in to cast his ballot in this week’s vote. And it is time that the top PTI leadership began to take notice of this. Instead of blaming their shock defeat on party defections and on the bigger and badder budget of all the King’s men; as if the electorate know not their own mind. After all, any possibility of poll rigging has been ruled out. Nevertheless, all may not be lost. Meaning that when the ruling PMLN’s man at the Interior gloated that the people had rejected dharna politics he simply reminded them of his party’s own track record. For it was not so long ago that the deposed Nawaz Sharif — a man no longer enjoying public office — held meetings at Punjab House and participated in homecoming rallies that resulted in the shutdown of major thoroughfares. Not to mention his security detail fatally running over a small child; whose death was opportunistically appropriated as the first martyr of democracy. Having said that, the by-election results indicate that PMLN despite all the setbacks remains the only game in Punjab town. Its opponents and the establishment will have to change their strategy to keep it out of power post-2018. * Published in Daily Times, February 16th 2018.