ISLAMABAD: The PTI’s massive upset in the general elections has left the political career of former prime minister and PML-N heavyweight Shahid Khaqan Abbasi uncertain.

Mr Abbasi contested and lost two seats, NA-53 in Islamabad and his home constituency NA-57, to PTI’s Imran Khan and Sadaqat Abbasi – a teacher by profession – respectively.

Mr Abbasi used to win comfortably from NA-57, previously NA-50, and was fielded by his party on two National Assembly seats this year.

He lost to Mr Khan by a large margin, winning nearly half of the votes – 44,314 – that the PTI chairman did in Islamabad – 92,891. His loss in NA-57 was closer, with 115,000 votes to Sadaqat Abbasi’s 125,000 according to unofficial results.

Political workers believe that fielding Mr Abbasi on two seats was the wrong decision, arguing that he could have won his home constituency if he had given the area his full attention.

But people from NA-57 believe that, in addition to other factors, it was mainly his poor performance that contributed to his defeat there, as he did not give any package to the people of his home constituency, who elected him several times since 1985, after becoming prime minister.

Mr Abbasi did not bring any mega-development package to his area as prime minister. Even Kashmir Road from Lower Topa to Julhal, the boundary of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, did not garner his attention, which contributed to his defeat in four union councils that are directly affected by this road.

When Mr Abbasi eventually turned his attention to the road in his last year in power and a contract was awarded, the contractor dug up the road from Lower Topa to Julhal but did not carpet as work was halted a few months ago due to a shortage of funding.

Residents in the area apparently voted against the former prime minister because of the inconvenience caused by the dug-up, rough road, which also became a source of dust-related diseases for locals.

Mr Abbasi also failed to provide Sui Gas to all Murree union councils as petroleum minister and then prime minister, and could not address the water shortage that has been facing Murree residents.

Meanwhile in NA-53, the PML-N leader could not match the popularity of the PTI chairman, who won the seat with a significant margin without carrying out any special campaign.

Many people believe that the lack of direct connection with voters hurt Mr Abbasi and contributed to his defeat, particularly in his home constituency where his secretary was mainly running affairs.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2018