Rediff On The NeT: Imran Khan's party fails to win even a single seat

Imran Khan's party fails to win even a single seat

Sheikh Manzoor Ahmed in Islamabad

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who tried to make forays into the political arena, received a severe drubbing at the hustings as he and his party candidates lost from all the constituencies.

Khan's Tahrik Insaf Party, which was projected as a third force in Pakistan, was completely wiped out in the election.

He had contested from nine National Assembly seats. In seven constituencies, he lost his security deposit by securing less than 10 per cent of the votes of the winning candidates.

In fact Khan admitted before the elections that his party would not be able to secure a single seat in the elections, which also saw rout of the main political party - the Pakistan People's Party. The Tahrik Insaf fielded candidates for 140 National Assembly seats. Most of his party candidates received less than 3,000 votes.

Khan's image received a serious setback following allegations levelled by Sita White that he fathered her four-year-old daughter. Though the cricketer denied the allegations, White went ahead and filed a paternity suit against him in a California court.

Khan was also accused by the Muslim League of receiving huge amounts of foreign funds for his election campaign. These allegations eroded his image and he was considered as "a foreign agent".

Khan, whose main election plank was to fight against corruption and accountability in public life, also contested against Muslim League chief Nawaz Sharif. But he suffered humiliating defeat from Lahore, Sharif's home constituency.

Khan said the low turnout of voters was the main reason for the defeat of his party in the elections. He said that a majority of his supporters chose to stay at home. He said his party got very little time to prepare as his Tahrik Insaf Party was formed only four months ago.

Interestingly, the religious parties also suffered badly in the elections, indicating people's rejection of the fundamentalist approach of these parties.

The biggest to suffer was Jamait-Ulema Islami of Maulana Fazlur Rehman who was himself defeated from the Dera Ismail Khan seat by Omer Farooq Khan of the League.

The Jamait Islam's appeal for boycott of the polls seems to have had some impact in some provinces. But this went to the advantage of the League.

UNI

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