KARACHI: Undeterred by the curb imposed on the broadcast of his speeches, Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain continues to lead his party’s campaign for the Dec 5 local government elections from London by addressing public meetings over the phone in different parts of the metropolis on a daily basis.

The MQM organised five public meetings in as many spots in Karachi’s Central, West, East, South and Korangi districts at a same time so that the people could listen to Mr Hussain’s telephonic speech in maximum numbers. Besides, it organised a Basant festival in Federal B Area and held a few corner meetings in the city on Sunday.

A large number of people that included youngsters, women and children attended the five programmes, which continued till small hours of Sunday at Hyderi Market in North Nazimabad, Aftab Ground in Orangi Town, Qutub Bazaar in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Lakhpati Chowk in Ranchhor Line and Korangi No 3.

Senior MQM leaders introduced the LG candidates of their party to the people of each district and asked them to vote for Kite, the election symbol of the MQM, on Dec 5.

Speakers lashed out at the alliance of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Jamaat-i-Islami and said the only common agenda the two parties had was “the Karachi and MQM enmity”.

They said that the parties which could not win their home constituency came here to occupy Karachi, but the people of the metropolis would reject them with the power of their vote.

They condemned the PTI for supporting the Pakistan Peoples Party in the Sindh Assembly for the passage of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013.

In response to PTI chief Imran Khan’s remarks in his Saturday’s rally that the MQM was undergoing a ‘minus Altaf formula’, MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi said that the results of the local government election clearly suggested that the people adopted a ‘minus Imran Khan formula’.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2015