KARACHI: All arrangements for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf rally scheduled for December 25 at Bagh-e-Quaid, adjacent to the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, have been finalised.
PTI chief Imran Khan, late Saturday night, visited the venue of his hyped-up rally to make sure arrangements were up to his satisfaction.
During the visit he directed his party workers to leave no stone unturned to make this congregation historic.
Everything seemed fine by the time he left the venue, located next to Mazar-e-Quaid, but soon after he was gone a car parked outside the venue caught fire and firemen was called in to put the flames out.
Later it was found out that the car belonged to PTI (Balochistan) Joint Secretary Siddique Yousuf. Police believe a short circuit started the fire.
Sarwar Rajput, information secretary of the PTI, disclosed that the final touches to the arrangements included dividing the main area into four sections — one section for women, another for families, the third for youths and the fourth for the general public.
About 60,000 chairs have been placed in the ground, which is said to have a total capacity of 200,000.
A dedicated gate has been set up for the entry of media personnel, for whom a separate seating arrangement has also been made. The main stage has been divided into an upper part and a lower part. The upper stage has been arranged for the party’s central leaders, who have come from across the country.
Four points in the city have been set up where the PTI’s workforce will help direct traffic. These will be at Nishtar Park, Taekwando at old Numaish, the City District Government parking plaza and Kashmir Road.
35 shuttle services have been set up to pick and drop people to the venue. Aside from the security provided by the government, the party has arranged for some 1,500 security workers, who will be deployed in and around the rally venue.
Though the venue of the PTI rally was filled with banners showing portraits of former cricketer Imran Khan and the founder of the nation Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the outside of the venue was awash with flags of the PPP rally that is taking place on December 27.
PTI leaders are convinced that this rally will be a milestone in Pakistan’s political history and that it will be larger than the party’s Minar-e-Pakistan rally, as Karachi features people of various ethnic backgrounds and has more politically active youths.
Analysts say PTI has thrown in its full might to take this public gathering to the top in the political history of the metropolis.
This time around Imran Khan seemed as surefooted he could be despite all the odds, which analysts dub as the early signs of a blockbuster event.
That the turnout would set the next direction for PTI’s political pursuit was one thing that all analysts had no two opinions about.
“If Imran succeeded in swinging it right, things would become easier for him down the road”, said an analyst.
