KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: With just 22 days left to the polling day, election fever is running high as cities and towns welcome political bigwigs on their campaign trail.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan have embarked on road journeys from today as they attempt to garner support for the general election scheduled for July 25.
Undeterred by a mob attack on his caravan a day earlier during his electoral rally in Karachi’s Lyari neighbourhood, Bilawal hit the city’s roads once again today.
“PPP does not believe in the politics of violence,” the Bhutto scion said, as he stepped out of his car en route to interior Sindh to address supporters on Monday morning.
“My warm welcome in Lyari did not go down well with opposing parties,” he added.
Speaking to supporters in Quaidabad, the PPP chairman said that stones were pelted at his rally on Sunday under a conspiracy.
Addressing workers upon reaching Gharo in Thatta district, he said that he had visited the district seeking votes from the masses for the first time and expressed hope that they would not disappoint him.
The PPP chairman is due to visit Sujawal, Badin, Tando Mohammad Khan and Hyderabad districts today.
After Sindh, Bilawal will campaign in southern Punjab and then on to the rest of the country.
A detailed travel log of the PPP chief is yet to be issued by the party.
Former president Asif Zardari on Monday said those who used to be afraid of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto fear Bilawal today.
Speaking about the attack on the PPP chairman’s convoy, the former president said, “God and the nation will protect Bilawal.”
Stating that Bilawal is the “leader of the people”, the former president said, “Lyari has proven that it still belongs to Bhuttos.”
Zardari also urged PPP supporters to remain patient.
“Those who patiently wait are never disappointed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PTI has released an election campaign travel log of Imran Khan.
According to the log issued by the party, the PTI chairman will campaign in 25 cities of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Sindh in the next 21 days.
The PTI supremo is scheduled to visit Sargodha today (Monday).
Imran will spend 11 days addressing public rallies in 14 different cities of Punjab, according to the travel log.
After Punjab, the PTI chairman will take to KP where he will campaign for five days in eight different cities.
Of the five days scheduled for Sindh, Imran will spend three days in Karachi and two in interior Sindh.
The PTI chairman’s campaign for the general election will conclude with a “massive rally” scheduled in Islamabad for July 23.
According to the party’s travel log, the PTI chairman will not be visiting Balochistan or the tribal areas in KP formerly known as Federal Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA).
July 2: Sargodha
July 3 and 4: Karachi
July 5: Swabi and Charsadda
July 6: Swat
July 7: Jhelum and Gujarat
July 9 and 10: Umerkot, Tharparkar and other cities of interior Sindh
July 11: Rahim Yar Khan
July 12: Gujranwala and Kasur
July 13: Rawalpindi
July 14: Mardan and Peshawar
July 15: Sialkot and Faisalabad
July 16: Mianwali and Bannu
July 18 and 19: Lahore
July 20: Bahawalpur and Multan
July 21: Lahore (nine different regions)
July 22: Karachi
July 23: “Massive rally” in Islamabad