Multan’s vote collider and the Bosan particle in our politics
And yes, it is there in NA 151 Multan. I mean the Bosan part of our electoral politics. It has been there in theory but the recent electoral collision, the by-election, provides us some interesting insight.
Loyal party voters, at the national level, started shrinking to margins by the mid 1990s and we observed wild swings in the next three elections. By now, it appears that only around half of the voters are predisposed while the rest keep the decision pending till late. Who do these ‘party-less’ voters support?
Let’s have a close look at NA 151 Multan 4. The constituency traditionally comprised of some of Multan’s suburbs and the nearby villages situated along the southern bank of river Chenab in tehsil Multan. The area was endowed to the Aitcheson-educated feudal lords and it was an imperative to be a Quershi, Gardezi or, best of all, Gilani to contest the elections here.
The Pir power in the area however was not uncontested but the challenger could hardly secure a quarter of the polled votes in early elections starting from 1970. When Nawaz Sharif contested Yousuf Raza Gilani here (then NA 114) in 1988, he lifted that non-Pir share to 41 per cent though the PPP leader’s 57 per cent was still too good.
Sikandar Hayat Bosan, a leader of the Bosan clan that inhabits banks of Chenab was given the IJI ticket for the provincial constituency, PP 165 (that fell within the boundaries of present day NA 151). The Bosan area is rich in agriculture, cattle and mango orchids and being in close vicinity of Multan city benefits from growth in urban economy.
Bosan triumphed over the PPP candidate, Haider Zaman Gardezi, with a thumping lead of 10,000 votes, which was a very impressive win for a provincial seat. This too came on the back of the fact that the IJI candidate on the national seat (of which PP 165 was a part) was defeated by PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani. So one of the PPP’s best fighters could not prevail over Bosan in his (Bosan’s) provincial home constituency.