“I ask you who amongst the eleven plus party government has the public stature to take on The Khan.”
“I agree it’s a war of the narrative and The Khan is winning hands down…”
“You didn’t answer my question. Is it Maryam Aurengzeb because she doesn’t have the same standing within her own party leave alone within the eleven plus party cabinet to…”
“It isn’t Shehbaz Sharif either because The Khan’s accusations kind of require a response rather than a denial.”
“So I go back to my question…”
“It isn’t Nawaz Sharif or his daughter whose claims of leadership have yet to be proved in a general election. I mean last I remember her standing for an election against Yasmin Rashid and if I recall correctly she did not contest the seat and…”
“Hmm, she is disqualified at present but I ask you what in the world is the state run television doing? I mean surely they can run a factoid check on everything The Khan says in his jalsas…”
“Wouldn’t that mean it has to run a factoid check on what Maryam Nawaz says too and as the nursery rhyme says Jack Spratt and his wife licked the platter clean.”
“Ha ha, the state run television is under no such obligation and I hope Shehbaz Sharif changes that — I mean The Khan didn’t and it took Pakistan Television less than an hour to change its thrust…”
“An hour…in my book less than a second…”
“Well there you go, there is the evidence that our tax rupees are being used promptly.”
“Don’t be facetious by the way who is Jack Sprat and who is wife between The Khan and his nemesis…”
“The Khan is fit, super fit, and this is in marked contrast to…”
“I get it, so how would you counter The Khan?”
“Well jalsa speech is about believability not about truth or performance or…”
“So?”
“So I reckon the toshakhana details and the Farah Khan details are The Khan’s Achilles heel and those are the only elements where the government can hit back effectively.”
“Ah yes indeed but…”
“But The Khan has successfully shifted the focus away from these factors and therein lies his success.”
“Hmmm, but how does the government and those supporting the government…”
“Take a leaf from what happened in the US with Trump — now granted that the Republicans today are not all behind Trump yet they showed a capacity to wag their tails whenever Trump said attack when he was in power – this is very slowly changing though with Biden’s low ratings Trump may yet resurface in 2024…”
“Ah yes but it’s not the same as PTI without The Khan.”
“Indeed, so we wait and see wither the wind blows.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022