PML-N: still under the shadow of Imran Khan’s rally

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) continued to be under the shadow of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan as it held a public meeting in Faisalabad on Sunday, telling the PTI and its supporters that the PML-N is unbeatable in Punjab. The main purpose of the public meeting, according to most mainstream political analysts, was to counter the Imran Khan juggernaut and all the talk of his ascendancy in the politics of Punjab, once considered the PML-N’s stronghold. But these neutralising efforts and counter-strategy by the PML-N only serve to further equate the PML-N with the PTI, a nonentity until very recently compared to the two big parties such as the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The PML-N leaders and the Sharifs themselves are smelling the real danger in the presence of Imran Khan, evident from the fact that Nawaz Sharif asked the military to stay out of politics, as if believing that the PTI enjoys the blessings of the establishment.
In Faisalabad, the PML-N managed to put together an impressive show, giving the message that the party is infallible in Punjab. But the analysts say that despite the fact that the venue of Dhobi Ghaat was overflowing with the public, if one goes by the version of the PML-N leaders, the party fell way short of attracting a crowd as big as the one Imran Khan amassed at Minar-e-Pakistan. However, the PML-N still has one advantage. While there was hardly any noticeable persons sitting next to Imran Khan at Minari-e-Pakistan, the stage at Faisalabad was alight with political stars. But it seems that Imran weighed heavily on the minds of these heavyweights: National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan kept inviting the media to see the numbers present at the venue.
The speech was without any message and was also contradictory. People alleged that the organisers also tried to copy the PTI style. Deliberately, it seems, the format of Imran Khan’s public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan was borrowed at the PML-N’s gathering by designing special seating arrangements and playing songs during speeches, accepting the new trend of trying to mesmerise the public. ‘Imranophobia’ was so dominant that PML-N President Nawaz Sharif and other leaders wasted the bulk of their speeches on responding to points raised by Imran Khan in his speech on October 30.
It could be the Imran nightmare that caused Chaudhry Nisar to misquote the value of Imran’s residence, which Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah later admitted and said it was a technical mistake committed by Nisar. Like Imran khan, Nawaz Sharif also wore a black and white attire. However, contradictory to Imran, he wiped sweat with his handkerchief many times, which some experts termed a sign of pressure from facing the third force in Punjab in the form of the PTI. Though the entire main leadership of the PML-N graced the stage, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, considered second to Nawaz Sharif, was missing. In his speech, Nawaz hailed him for his performance but his absence was seen as punishment for his fiery words at the Bhaati Chowk rally last month.
The public meeting was also confusing in the sense that most of the leaders kept up the slogan of “Go Zardari Go”, a popular manta in party, but Nawaz Sharif kept mum and did not bother to discuss it. In his speech, Nawaz showed his desire for longevity of democracy but in the same breath argued that the government should be toppled. His speech was also contradictory: on the one hand, he seemed annoyed with army but on the other he tried to praise the military.