KARACHI, Dec 5: Rural folks are preparing to protect their barns and studs this Eid from the king’s men and their horses, who, they believe, were out on a rampage to plunder their harvest.

They have placed advertisements in some newspapers, cautioning the people of Sindh against the designs of the king’s men and their horses.

The said advertisement is a typical manifestation of a polity, ridden with horse-trading, amid fears that some of the newly-elected MPAs in Sindh might be tempted or trapped by the king’s men.

Amid fears of “lotacracy” history being repeated in Sindh as well, public pressure was being built by the People’s Party Parliamentarians to prevent those vulnerable to temptation from leaving the fold.

The advertisement pays “tributes to jiyalas (activists) of Shaheed Bhutto” who elected the PPP to represent them.

It says that despite outside pressure and coercion, those who did not change their loyalties to the party, and its leader Benazir Bhutto, deserved compliments.

It also has a warning for those who were allegedly trying to betray their electorate.

The advertisement comes as a clear signal to those who were allegedly trying to change loyalties for whatever reason.

The advertisement was placed in newspapers following its chairperson’s orders to ostracize all suspects in the party.

In a province where politics had revolved around the Bhuttos for more than three decades, such pressure tactics might not work with those aspiring to breakaway from their traditional moorings.

The leadership of Pakistan People’s Party has already said that the new date for the Sindh Assembly’s inaugural session was announced only after the king’s men had given final touches to their alleged conspiracy.