08 May 2013, 03:02 PM IST
The 'cornered tiger' t-shirt Imran Khan wore before leading his country to the 1992 cricket world cup win remains one of the enduring images etched to Pakistan's collective memory. It was the galvanising factor that brought the country its greatest sporting glory.
The cricketer-turned-politician cut a similar cornered tiger figure as he made an appeal for support to his party from a Lahore hospital bed as he had a miraculous escape after falling from a 15feet lifter at a rally. A sympathy wave swept across Pakistan as the appeal was aired on TV, prompting many to describe it as the potential turning point ahead of the Saturday elections.
The message reinforced Khan's image as a feisty man and a unifying force in a deeply-fragmented country. There was a spontaneous outpouring of support for the ex-cricketer from across Pakistan and cutting across party lines. Even his bitter critics acknowledged his greatness and used their twitter handles to express their support.
Khan's political opponents including ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been at the receiving end of his adversarial campaign, cancelled their electioneering as a mark of solidarity.
This is significant for a country, where politics is extremely confrontationist.
Before the freak accident, Sharif had a marginal lead over Khan and was widely expected to beat him in the race for the country's top post. The fall may turn out to be the push that would see Khan through.
The ex-cricketer had founded his Tehreek-e-Insaf 17 years back after building a cancer hospital to treat the poor free of cost in his mother's memory. But he remained a marginal force in politics despite an impeccable philanthropic and public service record that includes the establishment of a state of the art university in the middle of nowhere in northern Pakistan. He was the lone member of his party in the parliament till 2007 before he boycotted the last elections as they were held under military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
His political rise began with his October 2011 rally in Lahore that was hailed as one of the biggest in the country's history. He continued addressing similar gathering and opinion polls showed him as the most popular Pakistani leader. He drew comparisons with Pakistan People's Party (PPP) founder Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto, who had taken the country by storm with his roti, kapra, makan and social justice promise in the 1970s.
Khan's political rise coincided with the PPP government's failure to curb terrorism, inflation create jobs and fix the economy. His stand on the drone attacks and the US-led war on terror made him a darling of the masses. Pakistan's leading politicians were exposed for their duplicity on the drone attacks – condemning them in public and condoning them in private with the American officials. In contrast, Wikileaks revealed that Khan had taken the same stand privately as well as publically and reinforced him image of honesty and integrity.
The ex-cricketer was the only leader to hold rallies in Pakistan's northwest as most politicians confined themselves to their fortress-like houses due to Taliban threats. He later led a march to Pakistan's tribal northwest braving threats to protest the attacks in 2012, something that catapulted him to the peak of his popularity.
But the realpolitik does not work on emotions. He had to get electable candidates, many of whom were turncoats and had been part of what Khan described as the political status quo that he had set out to outdo for his 'Naya Pakistan'. This was seen as a contradiction, which along with his support for engaging with the Taliban antagonised liberals.
Khan's decision to go ahead with the internal party elections – the first in Pakistan's history -- months before the national elections bogged his party down and allowed his opponents -- Sharifs of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) to regroup. Sharif's party that was in power in Pakistan's political nerve centre of Punjab accounting for 55% parliamentary seats went on a development spree. It completed Lahore's Metro Bus Project in a record time besides executing other populist measures including distribution of free laptops to students to steal Khan's thunder. The PML (N)'s measures had the desired results as Sharif overtook Khan as the most popular politician.
Taliban attacks on PPP, Awami National Party (ANP) and Karachi-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) besides lately on Jamiat Ulema Islam and Jamaat-e-Islami have crippled their campaign. In contrast, Khan has confined himself to Punjab that has remained untouched by the violence. Khan is likely to gain in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa at ANP's cost that would give him a decisive edge over Sharif, while MQM and PPP are likely to retain their strongholds of urban, interior Sindh and south Punjab.
Khan's pan-Pakistan appeal further gives him an edge over Sharif, who despite allying with nationalists in Sindh and Baluchistan is seen mainly as a Punjabi leader. As the outpouring of support for Khan demonstrates, he enjoys multiple identities that Pakistan comprises of. He is a Pathan from his father's side and a Muhajir from Jalandhar from him mother's side. He is a Punjabi having been born and raised in Lahore and above all Pakistan's national hero, something that the fall may have ended up reinforcing to catapult his rise.
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