NA-48: May the best man win

• All-important NA-48 constituency looking to be a rough fight between PTI, JI and PML-N

Muhammad Abid has been witnessing elections in NA-48 since 1985, but for the first time he is confused about who might win in this constituency.

Close competition is expected among the three former members of the National Assembly, including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Mian Aslam, former MNA Javed Hashmi and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Anjum Aqeel.

74-year-old, Abid, who runs a vegetable shop at G-7 said, “In the past, almost one month before the elections, one can tell who will emerge victorious. However, this time, no one is so sure.”

He said that he could not rule out the strong position of PML-N, as the party’s candidate was defending his seat in the constituency. At the same time, JI’s Mian Aslam, who could not contest in 2008 elections because his party boycotted the polls, won from this seat in 2002. At the same time, PTI heavyweight Hashmi, who has the support of thousands of people, could also not be ruled out either as a serious contender either.

Contrary to Abid’s claim, a youngster, Saqlain Hussain said that tough competition was expected between Mian Aslam and Javed Hashmi.

NA-48 is one of the two constituencies of the federal capital. For May 11 elections, almost every party has fielded its candidates for the constituency and a number of independent candidates are also in the race. However, there is no clear popularity of any particular party.

In 2002 general elections, JI’s Mian Aslam won this seat by defeating Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) heavyweight candidate Babar Awan. In 2008, Mian Aslam didn’t take part in the polls due to JI’s election boycott, which allowed PML-N’s Anjum Aqeel to win.

This constituency consists of both urban and rural areas. According to observers, in urban areas, Mian Aslam enjoys larger support than other candidates. While, PTI heavyweight Javed Hashmi has the support from many youngsters of both urban and rural areas.

On Friday evening Pir Jalal Uddin of Golra Sharif also pledged support for PTI. There are hundreds of their followers living in this constituency, who will have a strong vote in May 11 elections.

PML-N’s Anjum Aqeel, who defeated Dr Syed Israr Shah of PPP in 2008 polls, has lost his popularity to some extent in urban areas due to his alleged involvement in Rs 6 billion land fraud. However, belonging to the influential Khan family of Golra, he still enjoys a large following in rural areas of the constituency.

Although, PPP’s Faisal Butt is actively running his election campaign and enjoys support of the youth, yet given PPP’s history in this constituency, the signs do not look good for Butt.

Like other constituencies, in NA-48, the candidates have spent a huge amount of money for banners and pamphlets. Every visible nook and cranny of the city is plastered with banners of various political leaders. PPP’s candidate Faisal Butt is definitely ahead in the race for banner-plastering,

On Friday evening, PTI youngsters staged a car and motorcycle rally to motivate voters.  The rally started from sector G-11 and culminated at F-11. Dozens of Hashmi’s supporters participated in the rally.