battle for Islamabad. The PML-N has been ruling the province since
1985 and has retired General Pervez Musharraf not staged a coup on Oct
12, 1999, Sharifs could have enjoyed an uninterrupted rule. Musharraf's
era had created a split in the party and Chaudhrys of Gujrat and Moonis Elahi sided with the former president as an alley.

However,
for the first time, the Muslim League emerged as an opposition party,
unlike in the past when leaguers had the reputation of changing
loyalties. But many who changed their loyalties during Musharraf's
period are now part of PML-N, something which went against Shairfs’
post-Musharraf politics.

Imran Khan, who also supported Musharraf
from 1999 to 2002, not only regretted his association with him but is
also seriously challenging Sharifs’ political supremacy now. Thus, in
2017, the battlefield will be Lahore, which since 1970s hadwitnessed
major political transformation. Once it was the stronghold of Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP), under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It is the city where
three major political parties, PPP, PML and PTI were founded.

So,
the city will witness one of the most crucial political battles in the
next elections between the 'might of Sharifs’, and the rise of Imran.
Some PML-N leaders conceded that for the first time the party faced
serious political challenge in 2013 elections in Lahore, and the PTI did
jolt the party. "In a way it was good for the party, as competition
always helps you correct your mistakes, said a PML-N leader on condition
of anonymity, as he criticised some of the party leaders.

Now
where would stand the other mainstream political parties in this
'two-party battle’? The PTI has practically replaced the PPP in Punjab,
and the