The PTI’s rivalry with the PPP in Sindh has so far been confined to accusing the Sindh government for the sins committed by the Buzdar Administration in Punjab. If there was a shortage of food items like wheat and sugar, or for that matter fertilisers, the blame was put on the Sindh government’s policies even if it sounded whimsical. This time the rivalry seems to have taken a positive turn with the PM launching uplift projects in 14 Sindh districts under the Rs444 billion Sindh Development Plan. The PM has directed that priority must be given to less-developed rural areas of Sindh to ensure prosperity. He rightly regretted that the previous governments ignored the development of the province whose Assembly was the first to support the demand for Pakistan .
The development plan includes projects related to roads and motorways, housing, information technology and telecom, water resources, health, higher education, vocational training, disaster management, railways, energy and establishment of sports facilities. This will provide some of the most neglected districts of the province with basic necessities besides generating jobs for the population. Interventions of the sort could in the long run reduce the influence of the feudal lords on the population. In the short run these would create goodwill for the PTI.
This said, there is also a word of caution for the PTI. With the elections due in less than two years, a number of traditional turncoats notorious for corruption when in power but subsequently rejected by the people are on the lookout for a patron ready to provide them money in return for a change in loyalties. They are least interested in development and are keen to pocket most of the funds in collaboration with a corrupt government machinery implementing the projects. Some have already joined the PTI.
Before 2018 elections the PM had worked hard to present himself as Mr Clean. Over time the claim has lost some of its original shine. If a quest for electables leads the PTI to recruit notorious patrons of dacoits and criminals, it might win some seats in interior Sindh but would be seen as yet another traditional party willing to sacrifice its much-trumpeted principles for gaining power.
