Fida Hussnain
Following the verdict of the Supreme Court about upcoming elections on February 8, the political parties have speeded up their preparations.
SarfrazBugti who was serving as a caretaker interior minister also resigned from his post and decided to take part in the elections. Two caretaker provincial ministers Nawabzada Jamal Raisani and Umair Muhammad Hassani from Balochistan also stepped down from their positions. These developments including the top court verdict have given a strong impression that there cannot be any further delay in the elections despite that the heads of different political parties indicated that there would not be any problem if the elections were delayed just for a few days. The corner meetings, the meetings of the parliamentary boards and public gatherings are getting momentum these days, because the election schedule has also been issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan. PML-N has started its election campaigns; PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto is holding conventions and big gatherings in different parts of the country. Every political party including the newly formed Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) is active and making efforts to attract the voters. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which is facing serious challenges at the moment as many of its leaders either are out of country or behind bars, also held gatherings in some parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PTI is also planning to hold jalsas and rallies in Punjab and other provinces but there are many hurdles in its way. SherAfzalMarwat’s detention from outside the Lahore High Court is a recent example.
In the given circumstances, unlike the rival political parties including the PML-N and the PPP, the PTI’s ‘digital jalsa’ is not just a surprising move but also inspiring for many others. The PTI ignited the significance of virtual reality by digital jalsa to reach its voters and supporters amid the challenges.
Interestingly, blocking internet services and weakening live streaming is not that much easy at the moment for the other parties even if one says that they have connections with the power corridors and they can do it without any trouble, because they know that doing any such thing will also anger their voters and supporters, and that they attract the wrath of the public. At this moment when these lines are being written, the preparations for digital jalsa of the PTI are underway and the messages are traveling fast on different social media platforms that the PTI is all set for its digital power show tonight. The practical execution of jalsa and its happening will define its impact as many people do not know what kind of jalsa it will be. But despite all that queries, the concept of digital jalsa is an interesting concept and may be inspiring for other political parties ahead of the general elections. PTI’s main X page has 9.5 million followers; the PML-N is the second in number which has 2.5 million followers and the PPP is at the third number with 1 million followers on its main X account. These parties have many other accounts and they have followers in the order mentioned above. Similarly, the PTI has a huge fan following on its main YouTube channel. It is far ahead of its rival political parties. This is an edge for the PTI that it is close to the young people for its strong presence on social media. Shahbaz Gill, the PTI leader who is in the US these days, says that the rival political parties may make fun of the PTI over digital jalsa but he is confident that it will be a success and will keep them stunned.
