THE 60-plus man walking along the colonial-era General Post Office building in Lahore smiled when I interrupted his peace to ask if he was an Imran Khan supporter. “That does not matter. I like to be a part of any political rally in the city, to get the drift of things,” he replied, and then he came up with his latest update: “The presence of so many people here today exposes a vacuum. Some party has to fill it… Imran is the only political challenge to Nawaz Sharif in my hometown as of today.”

This was not just his hometown; it was Nawaz’s home constituency. This is from where the PML-N leader had returned to the National Assembly in the May general elections, as he had done in the earlier elections. If that was not symbolic enough, The Mall or Mall Road is from where operate some of the most affluent and influential traders who have sided with the Sharifs over all these years. This was where the free judiciary was centred, where the PTI and PML-N sympathisers had marched shoulder to shoulder until they succeeded in bringing back Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

The scene has since changed, the paths have diverted. Now thousands of Imran supporters have turned out to ask for justice for people crushed under high inflation.

The fog has cleared overnight but a clear direction needs to be set. For now the encompassing grey complements the expectancy about the hitherto unknown in the crowd — out to probe the future but not averse to enjoying their day out.

They wave party flags and carry their leader’s pictures, roam around from one end of the rally’s route to another, overall creating the festive mood the PTI has come to be known for.

In the run-up to the PTI show, the Shahbaz Sharif government had run a much-publicised campaign to bring down prices of the essentials. ‘Subsidised bazaars’ had sprung up in the city and raids against profiteers had been routine. The protesters were now seeking to dispel any impression of a relief having been provided to the people.

Many among them went the old way of wearing garlands comprising naans, potatoes and onions, posing proudly for photographs for a quick release on the social media — to combat the PML-N voices in charge of running down the PTI demo on television channels.

“Today’s rally will not help bring down the prices. But at least we have Imran Khan speaking against inflation. Where are the other so-called pro-poor parties?” retorted an elderly woman. She had been provoked by a reporter who pointed out that the rally had pushed up the prices of snacks being sold by vendors along The Mall.

“Who has paid you to write against us? Nawaz Sharif or Rana Sanaullah?” she asked angrily. Unlike the protesters, unlike the not-so-distant past, the media was more an observer and less a participant on the day. “It makes a lot of difference when the media decides to cover an event just as any other event. The coverage of the PTI rally shows that the media has come out of its campaign mode it had adopted against the previous government,” said a participant.

The Sunday rally did not rival the two Imran meetings in October 2011 and in March this year. They were not supposed to. This was quite a large gathering nonetheless, attracting people of all ages from all over.

They were protesting the failures of one government, but they had a government of their own, too, bringing out another difference between then and now.

“It doesn’t matter if our government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa can deliver on all the promises made in the election campaign or not. What matters to me is that our leaders are working hard to achieve what they had promised on drones, the Taliban and corruption,” said one participant. “At least, they are trying and not lying to us like do the top PPP and the PML-N leaders.”

That’s pretty much the same argument the PTI cadres have been offering to every criticism of the party. The numbers and the mood in the anti-inflation rally indicated that for the moment many are prepared to lend an ear to Imran Khan’s version.