Very surprisingly, one does not need to stay in the PPP Secretariat, Lahore, for a long time to realise this. With the women calling all the shots, supporting each other, cheering them on and encouraging everyone to put in their best shoe forward, it looks like a scene out of a utopian novel. But you better not be mistaken. Every single one of them is an icon in itself, reaching insurmountable heights and playing to their best strengths.
Starting in the Benazir Hall and going all the way to the front lawn, there’s a nervous energy all around, ready to touch you, mesmerise you with the real spirit of elections.
The perseverance of these women shines through the riveting montage. Syeda Shehla Raza, former deputy speaker in Sindh, could be spotted from afar, finalising plans for the polling, going over the voting lists. When asked about a change in the mood from Sindh, she remarked, “People might have believed I worked very hard but I believe there’s a lot that still needs to be done. Punjab deserves a lot better.”
Ms Raza, being a firm believer in hardwork, noted that it was their sheer determination that had led to a frenzied chaos among the lot. She did not mince words when referring to the recent controversy pitting PMLN’s Atta Tarar against the entire party leadership stationed in NA-127 revolving around the voting scandal. “People have issues with Quran Pak and Yasin Shareef we have kept in our offices. Our rivals do not believe to have an issue with barging inside our offices and the stacks of cash they’ve kept for themselves.”
For her, Bilawal’s performance across the length and breadth of the country was enough evidence of his attention. “We have spread our footprint in all provinces.”
Realising the significance of an end to politics of vengenace and hatred, she reminded how it was her leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who had actually spearheaded the movement of prosperity, the movement for the common man, and therefore, Peoples’ Party could truly be called the only party on a mission to realise the Awami Muashi Muahida.
If Ms Shehla had a lot to speak when it came to the needs of the ordinary Pakistanis, PPP’s Deputy Information Secretary and one of the key organisers in Bilawal’s constituency in Punjab, Nayyab Gohar Jan, thundered, ” There are chants of Bhutto, Bhutto and Bhutto wherever you turn to in Lahore.” When asked about what her party had in mind to give back to its voters in the constitency, she laid down a very point-of-the-fact agenda. “We have come forward after doing a lot of planning. We know what the Lahoris need.”
Making a veiled remark at the historic rivals, she noted, “We have seen the reality of those who promised a lot and delivered nothing. The reality of Paris is right in front of us. May it be a hospital or graveyard for Christian community, we have plans for every single one of your demands.”
To a query about how these promises had been made before as well and how the PPP planned to deliver on these lofty claims, she noted, “I do not wish to talk about their performance but I know that PPP has delivered a lot in Sindh. May it be the rights of women or labourers or the question of minimum wage, the PPP has always delivered.”
It should be remembered that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has come up with an extensive blueprint to detail how he intends to pay for all of these demands, she maintained. If realised, the dissolution of unnecessarry 17 federal ministries (eating up 300 million rupees), elimination of the elite subsidies packages and the entire elite capture would help pay for these grand schemes. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Senator Sehr Kamran is no stranger to the intricacies of the politics. She believes in the value of hard work and how only performance can pay off in the end. “It is so thrilling to see the response of masses and the reality of those who keep harping on about Paris.”
“Wherever I have gone, whichever door I have knocked on, screams for Bhutto, Shaheed BB and hope and pray for Bilawal.” When asked why this change could be seen now, especially when the last elections had led to a complete erasure of the party’s presence in Punjab, she thundered, “Just like fake news, fake narratives abound. We were not allowed in the past to actively campaign, go to our voters. In 2007, we were crippled by the untimely death of BB while in 2013, terrorist activities obstructed our movement.”
“People know that there’s no reality to “Nawaz Do.” It is only BB Shaheed and her party that gave natural gas, rozgaar. It was Bilawal who gave land to victims of floods. It would be Bilawal who walking on the path of his Nana and his mother who grants unprecedented relief to the masses.” Ms Kamran believed that her leader did not wish to be a part of the system where his performance was overshadowed by the ills of others. “Take a look at the past performance of the PDM government.
We did unbelievably well in the areas of climate change, health, women emowerment and foreign relations. Why is it that only a part of the government manages to achieve all its targets while the rest has nothing to show for itself.”
PPP Women’s Wing President in Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Nabila Ayoub believed that PPP is shining in all its glory in Azad Kashmir. “Our hearts beat with the PPP because it was Shaheed Zulfikar Bhutto who fought for our rights.”
“It is our biggest success that we are still holding so many seats in the legislature. I had come to Lahore thinking there would be no PPP in Lahore because I had heard so on television but the reality could not be more different.”
