akistan Muslim League-Nawaz has won most of seats in the by-elections, thereby undermining Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s narrative about rigging of the February 8 elections.

Even though rigging complaints surfaced again around the by-polls, these were mostly localised and sporadic, not systematic. The one-sided results also showed that intra-party friction, absence of viable leadership and voters’ disinterest have caused a huge dent in the PTI’s popularity, especially in the Punjab where the party failed to do well in any constituency.

The by-elections were held for five National Assembly seats and 17 seats in provincial assemblies across Pakistan on April 21. The PML-N and its allies - PML-Quaid and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party - bagged two National Assembly and 12 Provincial Assembly seats. The PTI won only one National Assembly seat and a seat in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly. The big upset was the victory of Mubarak Zeb Khan from NA-8 and PK-22. He defeated the official PTI candidates thereby raising questions about the party’s prospects in its KP stronghold.

A further blow to the PTI and its narrative was the defeat of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi who again lost to his nephew Musa Elahi, a PML-Q candidate from Gujrat. Elahi has been embroiled in a heated political feud with his cousin Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ever since the former decided to ditch the PML-N and the PPP for an alliance with the PTI. Subsequently, he was made the PTI president and the Punjab chief minister. However, Imran Khan later decided to dissolve the Provincial Assembly in a bid to press for early elections. Elahi has borne the brunt of the political miscalculation. As of today, he is incarcerated at Adiyala Jail along with Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the PTI deputy chairman. Some of the political analysts appearing in current affairs shows on TV have expressed surprise over Elahi’s defeat. They apparently ignore the fact that the politics of Elahi and Shujaat has revolved around the legacy of Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi, father of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and father-in-law and uncle of Parvez Elahi. Many families in Gujrat still love Zahoor Elahi and have continued to vote for its scions. Most of them supported Zahoor’s grandson, Musa, against his uncle.

Some PML-N leaders have claimed that Maryam Nawaz’s performance as chief minister led to the party’s victory in the Punjab.

Some of the PML-N leaders have claimed on the other hand that Maryam Nawaz’s performance as chief minister led to the PML-N victory in the Punjab. Maryam has been all work and focused on performance from the very first day in office. However, the attribution is unrealistic. While she is taking some revolutionary steps to bring about prosperity her hard work will take months and years before there is a visible change the voters recognise and can respond to.

The major factor behind the facile PML-N victory has been the slow PTI retreat. The PML-N has apparently learnt its lesson from the February 8 elections when a sizeable chunk of its voters in the Punjab did not turn out to vote. This time the party asked its candidates to ensure better moblisation.

On the other hand, the PTI lacked party organisations, political leadership and a mechanism to bring voters out of their houses, believing possibly that they will throng the polling stations on their own like they had done on February 8. However, that did not happen as many of the voters were de-motivated with a sense of uncertainty about the impact of their participation.

Talking to The News on Sunday, Ali Zulqarnain, a PTI voter from NA-119, Lahore, said: “I did not vote in by-polls. I knew that my vote would not count.” He said that many of the PTI supporters were disinterested in by-elections, saying: “A lot of other PTI voters, including my family members, did not go to vote for the PTI candidate, Shehzad Farooq.”

Tussles between various groups within the PTI also kept some of the PTI’s leaders away from the campaigns. Imran Khan had directed Sher Afzal Marwat, the new poster boy of the party, to lead the campaign. Marwat addressed huge rallies in Kasur and Lahore but failed to motivate the voters. This shows that Imran Khan is the only inspirational leader for his supporters.

Talking to reporters following the by-elections, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan, flanked by secretary general Omar Ayub Khan and Sahibzada Hamid Raza of the Sunni Ittehad Council claimed that the elections were rigged. “The PTI will stage countrywide protests. The Election Commission of Pakistan should not issue notifications for the disputed wins,” he said.

However, the notifications were issued and the winning candidates took oath in the National Assembly the after the PTI leaders’ news conference and the PTI parliamentarians did not protest against the oath-taking.

At the same time, the PTI has started negotiating with NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq for the appointment of the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and the formation of various National Assembly standing committees. This is a positive move by the PTI. Before the National Assembly session, the federal cabinet approved the removal of a number of PTI leaders’ names from the exit control list. This might indicate that the ice is melting between the treasury and the opposition.

Meanwhile the nomination of the PAC chairman has become quite an issue. In a televised interview, Marwat claimed that Imran Khan had given the go-ahead for his nomination. “Several leaders who have met Khan in jail have tried to get rid of me,” he added.

However, MNA Latif Khosa said: “Imran Khan will likely nominate Senator Hamid Khan for the PAC chairmanship.” Some PTI stalwarts claimed that Khan had nominated Sahibzada Hamid Raza for the slot. This indicates that there are serious differences within the PTI. This is affecting its popularity and vote bank.

The writer is a senior journalist, teacher of journalism, writer and analyst. His X handle: @BukhariMubasher