Loyalists of jailed PTI founder Imran Khan – some of them political in the least – defied all odds and emerged victorious, defeating political juggernauts in the high-stakes general election held on February 8. drubbing despite the support of powerful circles in the country.
The PTI has been under the wrath of the state following the May 9 nationwide attacks on national security installations. All efforts have been made to literally wipe Khan’s party out of the political arena by imprisoning its top leadership and workers, forcing them to switch loyalties or abandon politics, and imposing a media blackout on their activities.
It was extremely difficult to remain loyal to Khan.
Among those who deserted Khan was Pervez Khattak, former chief minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He jumped ship and formed a splinter group called PTI-Parliamentarians. Sugar cartel Jahangir Tareen – who was once in Khan’s inner sanctum – also paved the way for the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP), apparently at the behest of the powers that be to lure PTI deserters.
However, both parties suffered humiliating defeats in the elections.
During the canvassing, Khattak boldly claimed that he would be the next Chief Minister of K-P and that PTI-backed independents would also join hands with him after victory.
Tareen, on the other hand, had bigger dreams. His IPP entered into a seat-fixing deal with the PML-N, claiming that they would jointly form governments at the Center and in Punjab. However, his party could muster only two seats in the National Assembly from Lahore – one for Aleem Khan and the other for Aon Chaudhry. Both are facing allegations of massive manipulation and their opponents are questioning their victory.
Ironically, Khattak and Tareen could not get their own seats.
PTI-P was literally wiped out. Khattak’s two sons and a son-in-law contested from all the seven seats in Nowshera but failed to win any of them. A young political newcomer who was supported by PTI defeated them by a huge margin.
This raises questions: why did voters reject political heavyweights like Khattak and Tareen?
“In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, parties that criticized Imran Khan were rejected by the people and are limited to one or two seats, while Khattak, who tried to break away from the party, faced a humiliating defeat,” said senior journalist Laiq Ali. Khan told BBC Urdu.
Khattak also faced strong public backlash during the election campaign, with people chanting slogans against him during his corner meetings and rallies.
“Pervez Khattak had so much confidence in himself during the election campaign that he kept presenting himself as the future chief minister,” senior journalist Ali Akbar told BBC Urdu. “After this drubbing, he will have to change his mind that he will not rely on anyone but the power of the people,” he added.
Another prominent figure in Khattak’s breakaway PTI faction, former chief minister Mahmood Khan, contested two constituencies and lost both.
According to Ali Akbar, this election showed that the public made an independent assessment of the situation and the results show that these candidates owed their success in the 2013 and 2018 elections to Imran Khan, not to Khattak or Mahmood’s individual performance.
Moreover, at the lowest level, there was resentment against them for their betrayal of the Khan, which the voters expressed through their votes.
Senior journalist Irfan Khan believes that love for Imran Khan is widespread in the country. “Though Khattak and Mahmood held prominent positions in the provincial government, their popularity and performance were overshadowed by Imran Khan’s politics and populism,” he further said.
When Imran Khan and his party faced tough times, it was not only in K-P that politicians jumped ship. Some political heavyweights from Punjab also betrayed Khan to form their own party.
Tareen’s IPP contested 12 seats in the National Assembly and 37 seats in the Punjab Assembly. The party also entered into a seat adjustment agreement with the PM-N. However, the results show that she could win only two seats – one of which is currently under suspension by the Lahore High Court.
The IPP was supposed to attract PTI-backed independent candidates under the Sharifs.
Analysts say that the current results surprised everyone and showed that all the pre-election analyzes were wrong. Despite vigorous campaigns against him, Khan’s narrative resonated not only in K-P but also in Punjab. This is why neither IPP in Punjab nor Khattak’s party in K-P could put up any significant performance.
