HYDERABAD: Pakistan Peo­ples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would address his much awaited first ever public meeting to pay tribute to the Karachi Karsaz martyrs on Wednesday (today) in Hyder­abad since he started his political innings at his formal launching as PPP chairman three year ago at the same event in Karachi’s Bagh-i-Jinnah.

PPP’s voters and supporters remained in festive mood after the party anno­un­ced to hold the 10th anniversary of Karsaz blasts for the first time in Hyderabad. It should also be mentioned that seven of the victims hailed from Hyderabad.

Interestingly, public mee­ting is coming on the heels of Imran Khan’s not so impressive public meeting at the same venue almost a month ago. “Every such event or jalsa by a political party is [part of the] run-up to elections,” says PPP Sindh president Nisar Ahmad Khuhro after visiting the venue of the public meeting where preparations were under way for the past couple of days. “Can we consider Oct 18 gathering as a prelude to PPP’s election campaign?”, he was asked and said “political parties tend to keep their workers mobilised all the time”.

Rows of around 40,000 chairs were prepared in the venue while construction of 160 foot long and 20 foot wide stage with the help of empty containers was under way. “The PPP seeks to put on a show bigger than Dadu’s,” quips a front-line party leader.

Only 10 years ago Bilawal’s mother and assassinated party chairperson Benazir Bhutto addressed a public meeting on Dec 17, 2007, in the same area at a smaller distance away from the present venue to formally launch her party’s election campaign after ending exile on Oct 18, 2007. Before that Benazir Bhutto had led a huge rally of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) in May 1998 in Hyderabad against the Nawaz Sharif government where she threw bangles for premier Sharif, who had not by that time decided to test nuclear weapon.

On Oct 17, 2014, the PPP chairman visited Hyderabad to see renovation work at the tomb of Hosh Mohammad Sheedi (better known as Hoshu Sheedi), a nationalist hero. The tomb is located in Goth Siyal, Rahuki in the district some 12km from here.

“Of course, today’s gathering is organised in the run-up to next year’s polls. Sindh’s people expect that as an Oxford graduate young party chairman will come up with some modern vision of development for Sindh, his home province. The PPP can hold a big meeting as it has got the edge of ruling Sindh since 2008,” observes writer Inam Sheikh.

A simple understanding is that arrangements for the gathering would be massive and more organised this time round. Such arrangements remained unseen at least in Hyderabad if history is any yardstick. “Party workers are fully mobilised to make sure that proceedings of public gathering remain as smooth as possible,” says Ahsan Abro, district information secretary.

The PPP chairman would land at the residence of Sharjeel Inam Memon, Rawal farm house in Rahuki, through a helicopter. He would visit Tando Mohammad Khan the next day. A 24-page security plan is chalked out by the Hyderabad district police. All areas where the party chairman could move, in addition to the venue, is divided into 15 sectors by police. Police force from nearby districts with several senior superintendents of police have been called to give effect to the security plan.

“I guess party workers and supporters from my constituency will fill the venue alone to make their turnout historic,” claims Sharjeel Memon. Memon, report says, is full of energy and planning transportation of thousands of his supporters to the venue from his constituency alone.

Interestingly, warring factions of the PPP district chapter buried the hatchet for the time being. Party activists and supporters — who are part of different camps led by Maula Bux Chandio, Jam Khan Shoro, Abdul Jabbar Khan and Dr Irfan Gul Magsi — remained fully active with their respective leaders. It was quite evident from Monday’s well-attended workers’ gathering that Dr Magsi organised at his residence.

Even otherwise the PPP is poised to capitalise on the situation arising out of a split in the MQM. It is trying to dent MQM’s strongholds by reaching out to young political activists, traditionally aligned with the MQM directly or indirectly. “By launching development works in downtown that has been ruined, we will have to own the city if the PPP seeks to replace the MQM as an alternative,” admits a PPP worker.

Hardly any hoarding in the city is spared by party workers as they had covered it with panaflex portraits of the party chairman, co-chairman and local party leaders.

Those dealing in this business believe that party cadres have gone for an overkill as far as printing of such stuff is concerned. “It appears as if elections campaign has started in Sindh. We witness such kind of demand for work [panaflexes] only in election campaigns,” says Shahid Qureshi, who deals in the business in Khokhar Mohallah, a hub of printing business. “One machine owner is said to have received orders for printing material of 60,000 sq ft,” he says.

However, there have been complaints from private advertisers whose hoardings have been used by excited party workers for their own benefit without paying any cost. According to a local party leader, all such hoardings will be cleared after Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2017