In Lodhran politics, supporters have become opponents and opponents have turned supporters. Political players are switching sides and some new independent players have also come in the field.
According to our analysis in Minute Mirror on June 1, it was mentioned that former PML-N MNA and former MPA father-son duo Pir Iqbal Shah and Pir Amir Iqbal Shah would not get PML-N tickets for the by-election of PP-224. They have now joined the PTI camp through Shah Mehmood Qureshi and got the ticket. But what more can Pir Iqbal Shah put his long-time ally and leader of Shaheed Kanju Group Abdul Rehman Khan Kanju, who is PML-N MNA, federal minister as well as the party president of PML-N’s Multan division, to do?
Now they are coming to the field against him and will contest the elections. With his hard work, he defeated Ali Tareen and became an MNA and a political star. Behind this, all the hard work was done by Shaheed Kanju group and Abdul Rehman Kanju worked day and night to give victory to them. Now, he has joined PTI but there are still many difficulties which can be overcome on the basis of experience but not on the basis of joining any party. Now their supporters and voters seem divided.
Not only them, but their rival candidates can be unanimous candidates of PML-N and Jahangir Tareen. The road is also difficult for Zawar Warraich and their voters are also divided. Mian Shafiq Arain, who took Pir Iqbal Shah to PTI, may have made this political mistake which will be realized in the days to come as Arain is based on MPAship and this is also the constituency and now he has given it to Pir Sahibs.
The three major players in this constituency were Pir Amir Iqbal Shah, Zawar Warraich and Mian Shafiq Arain. Now Mian Shafiq Arain has given his place to Pir Amir Iqbal Shah and it may become difficult and impossible for him to regain his old status. Mian Shafiq Arain may also have wielded such a political ax. If he had given a ticket to an ideological leader instead of Pir Iqbal Shah, he could have maintained his credibility but now he has lost the political maneuver by not fielding a candidate. Now it remains to be seen what the Shaheed Kanju group does and what political maneuver is going on. If the Shaheed Kanju group supports Zawar Warraich instead of fielding its own candidate, then this could be a good move. And Mian Shafiq will not give any room for ideas at all. Speaking of PP-228, Pir Rafi-ud-Din, the leader of PML-N and Shaheed Kanju group, has also filed nomination papers as an independent candidate, which will be a challenge for the parties and Tarin group.
But in view of the present situation, Pir Rafi-ud-Din Shah seems to be succeeding at present. As now, the nomination papers are being collected, let’s see who is coming from which camp and from which team.
