WITH the election campaign having come to an end, the last hopes of caterers and decorators, especially in Karachi, stand dashed. They had earned fortunes in the last two general elections but election 2013 has been a nightmare for them. What they are hoping for the D-Day is some reasonable activity at camps that would be set up by parties at polling stations.

As against 64,176 polling stations in 2008, there are over 72,000 polling stations this year representing the last hope of some seasonal activity for the decorators.

The average cost for setting up a polling camp comprising four to five tables, 15-20 chairs with full tent cover and a water container ranges between Rs1,500 and Rs2,000, excluding meals. With the number of candidates having almost doubled from the 2008 elections, it is fair to expect at lest three camps on an average in front of each polling station. This alone has the potential to generate a staggering sum of anywhere between Rs325 million and Rs432 million. Add to it meals and refreshments that would keep the activity going for almost 24 hours — including the counting and announcement process — and the amount becomes even more sumptuous for the service providers. All is surely not lost for them … not yet.

The big question is, who is going to foot the bill for all this?

PPP Sindh General-Secretary Taj Haider talked in detail about the threat the party was facing and which resulted in a low-profile campaign, but when it came to the provision of meals at election offices, he said there was no formal party fund for the purpose and it was up to the candidates.

In contrast, Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Syed Munawwar Hassan said his party had a centralised spending system for the whole electoral process, including catering and other services. Workers and well-wishers had raised that fund, he said.

PML-N Senior Vice-President Mamnoon Hussain said party candidates were bearing the cost of food and arrangements “with the support of well-wishers”.

MQM’s Sardar Ahmed said at 90 per cent of whatever corner meetings the party was able to hold in view of the security situation, no food or drinks were served. And whenever it was served, the cost was managed by party supporters. “The MQM is a highly disciplined party and the entire electoral process is carried out in a well-organised manner,” he said.

Caterers and service providers in Punjab rejected the general perception that unlike elsewhere, they had done robust election-related business.

Speaking from Lahore on phone, Kamran Khan, General Manager at Hanif Rajput Caterers and Decorators, said they had not received even a single major order from any political party from anywhere across the province. “All we had were selective gatherings involving 40-50 people,” he said.

When he was asked about TV footage showing people grabbing meals with sub-human zeal at public gatherings, he said it proved that political parties didn’t spend enough and preferred low-end low-priced caterers to do the job. The last elections, he stressed, were comparatively better from business point of view.

Waseem Ahmed of Larosh Caterers and Event Planners was not happy either with the dull electioneering in Karachi. He was focussing his energies on installing party camps outside polling stations, hoping that he would have his hands full.

When asked about hassles in retrieving payments, he said all orders were being booked on the basis of full payment in advance. A number of service providers in Karachi said they were reluctant to accept orders from political parties as they turn out to be bad paymasters. There was only one exception most of them quoted: the MQM.