On a main road of G-9 Markaz, Islamabad, the workers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) have established their election camp and are preparing for the arrival of the NA-53 contender former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi with the party anthem airing on huge loudspeakers “Ek naara lagaana chahta hu, dunya ko batana chahta hu, qazi ko sunana chahta hu, vote ko izzat dou.” On the other side of the camp, Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek activists have established their camp, where their party’s song plays, “Islam aur nazryae Pakistan ke muhafiz, ahlian-e-Pakistan ke sachay hamdard, sadiq aur amin karkunan ka jurmat, Mille Muslim League ka shana bashana.” Seventy-two-year-old Ahmed Abbasi with a PMLN flag in hand, seemed fully prepared for the rally of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inside the election camp of the party. Talking exclusively to Daily Times, Ahmed Abbasi said that in the history of Pakistan, can you mention a single leader who has introduced so many developmental projects as former PM Nawaz Sharif has done? “He has made Pakistan proud by equipping the country with nuclear power, as now no enemy can harm the motherland. Nawaz Sharif introduced motorways, the Orange Line Project and Metro Bus and strengthened Pakistan’s relations with China through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. The Pakistani justice system is unfair as the real criminals are not being tried but the ones serving the nation have been put behind bars,” he said, adding that he will vote his “beloved” leader Sharif for the supremacy of democracy and vote. Inside the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek camp, Talha Ghaznavi tried convincing people to vote for his party, telling them about their manifesto. Also, while talking exclusively to Daily Times, he said that both the parties have been in Parliament since long but still no struggle for the independence of Kashmir has been made. “Our mothers, sisters and brothers are dying in Indian-Held Kashmir but still we have no realisation to help them achieve independence. When Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek will come into power, resolving the Kashmir dispute will be our top priority,” he said adding that the upper brass of the political parties are becoming rich day by day while people in lower cadre are committing suicides due to poverty and “we will give justice to everyone when we come into power”. NA-53, a constituency considered a powerful hub of the PMLN in the past with many contenders of PMLN winning the electoral race, this time features two heavy political weights battling for the 2018 election, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. The constituency will observe a neck and neck competition today (Wednesday). Though 33 contenders are contesting election from the same constituency, but five candidates according to the election observers are the strong contenders, Imran Khan, Shahid Khaqan, Mian Muhammad Aslam, Ammar Rashid and Syed Sibtul Haider Bukhari. This constituency consists of white collar urban areas of the federal capital including sectors E-7, F-7, G-7, G-8, G-9, H-8, H-9, I-8 and I-9 as well as some rural areas like Bhara Kahu, Banigala, Bari Imam, Mohra Nur, Phulgran, Suhan, Chattar, Shahzad Town and Lakhwal. According to the 2017 population and housing census, this constituency has 670,683 population with a registered vote of 312,143. In rural areas of this constituency, mostly Pashtun, Gujjar, Awan and Abbasis are in good numbers while the urban areas have a diverse background with mostly people migrating from different area. The Christians have more than 21,000 vote bank that are deprived of rights. Their vote will have an impact on the election result. The Christian community mostly is willing to vote for the Awami Workers Party (AWP) as they facilitate the minorities and lower class community in tough times. In the 2013 general elections, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry of PMLN secured 95,701 votes while the runner candidate was PTI’s Chaudhry Ilyas Mehrban who got 57,160 votes. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar got 44,646 votes. In the 2008 election, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry of the PMLN in a neck to neck competition secured 45,482 votes while Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari of PPP got 44,726 votes. Imran Khan and Shahid were barred from contesting elections on NA-53 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on incomplete affidavit forms but later the appellate tribunal permitted them to contest from the same constituency. Ammar Rashid is a young candidate of the AWP who has contributed immensely for the labourers, women and minorities. Rashid started his campaign two months ago with a solid manifesto and has a rich vote bank in lower middle class as well as in kachi abadis of Islamabad. Published in Daily Times, July 25th 2018.