Peaceful polling at Zaman Park, Shah Jamal, Shadman

LAHORE
A peaceful and uninterrupted voting process was observed in the designated polling stations of Zaman Park, Shah Jamal and Shadman areas of NA-122, which proved to a be a fierce contest between the ruling PML-N and rival PTI.
Presiding officers and polling agents at the stations commended the rangers deployed in the localities for disrupting minor clashes in the area and ensuring all forms of electoral misconduct were avoided.
A number of advantages are enjoyed by PTI’s candidate in NA-122 Aleem Khan in these posh localities of Lahore where the majority demographic consists of the urban middle class and elite class, who loyally followed PTI Chief Imran Khan’s slogan of ‘Naya Pakistan’ during the four month-long sit-in staged in the Capital.
However, in Shadman and adjacent Shah Jamal, PTI grassroots level party organisation has been weak and has only marginally improved due to efforts of PTI MPA Mian Aslam Iqbal with personal contacts with local residents and party workers. The rival party experienced a surge in support at the polls in 2013 general elections but this has significantly weakened due to a gap between the workers and the party leadership. The ruling party PML-N has benefitted from this gap and many of those surveyed voiced their support for Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and his running mate on the provincial ticket, Mohsin Latif. Meanwhile, in Zaman Park where PTI Chief Imran Khan has his personal residence, a split has been observed in the traders and business community.
Sardar Ayaz has a number of advantages when confronting PTI Lahore President Aleem Khan. It is a constituency with a strong PML-N vote bank and the previous contests here have been easy pickings for the party, for it has won here in five elections in 1990,1993,1997,2002 and 2008.
This is also an area where Biradaris have historically played an important role. The Arains constitute the biggest followed by the Kambohs. Today, Sadiq is the undisputed leader of both these Biradaris. By virtue of his family background, he is well-connected here too. The polling process at Aitcheson College, Lahore Camps Boys High School, Zaman Park with a total of 1,910 registered voters including 1,031 registered men and 879 women began at 8am in the morning on Sunday and continued till 5pm without any interruptions. A large PTI camp had been set up in the college grounds with music blaring from speakers and a good number of activities planned for the youngsters arriving to cast their votes. An impressive contingent of PTI women office-bearers equipped with voters’ lists facilitated women of all ages voting at the station. Meanwhile, the PML-N camp proved to be lackluster with only a few numbers of women and men present. Majority of those standing both men and women in the line voiced their support for Aleem Khan and Shoaib Siddiqi. Talking to The News, voters said that the last two and a half years of this government had shown poor performance on all standards. It is pertinent to note that Pakistan Peoples Party had no camp set up or any polling agents available at the venue despite Barrister Amir Hassan of PPP contesting for NA-122.
The rangers deployed undertook stringent measures to avoid foul play and even media personnel with Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) passes faced difficulty entering the polling booths.
It is noteworthy that at least four soldiers were deployed in each polling station while CCTV cameras have also been installed. Senior citizens and disabled voters complained however no arrangements had been made for their special needs at the station.
Turnout at the polling stations for men and women throughout the day was low however with less than 40 per cent of votes casted an hour before polling ended. Presiding officer at one of the booths set up for male voters, Anwar-ul-Haq, in the afternoon told The News that a turnout had been less than expected and few ballot copies had been used. Towards end of polling, numbers of voters increased but turnout allover recorded was low.
At Shadman Crescent High School which served as a polling station for both NA-122 and PP-147, the turnout was significantly better with a large number of families including people of ages coming to cast their vote. Presiding Officer Muhammad Ashraf Sajid informed The News that out of the total 1,511 male voters registered at his booth, 570 had casted their vote by lunchtime. Meanwhile, at the other booth set up for men, 625 out of 1425 male registered voters had cast their votes by the same time. At a women’s voting booth, a total of 400 women out of 1100 women voters had cast their votes at this time. Across this station, at the Wasa office serving as a polling station for Shah Jamal a vibrant scene of PML-N and PTI Jiyalas welcoming their respective leaders was witnessed. Presiding officer at the women voting booth Abida Hafeez informed that 467 women out of 1120 registered female voters had cast their votes by afternoon.