Finally the stunning 'upset'.

Finally the stunning 'upset': Yousaf Raza Gillani, a former Prime Minister from Pakistan Peoples' Party, had blocked the entry of Dr Hafiz Shaikh to the Upper House of our parliament, although with a narrow margin of five votes. Not many commentators were expecting it, including myself.

If you go by the logic of numbers only, the ruling party candidate should have easily bagged 175-plus votes in a house of 342. But Hafiz Shaikh could only manage 164 in his favour. Seven votes were found 'invalid.' One is yet not sure whether some members of the National Assembly, sitting on the treasury benches, deliberately spoiled votes to express anger against Hafiz Shaikh. But in this column, printed Wednesday morning, I had discussed the possibility of 'deliberate absence' or 'spoiling of ballot papers.'

The PPP sources were talking about 8 persons in the given context; perhaps the seven out of them finally behaved as 'promised'.

The reality of anti-Sheikh rage appears as if clearly affirmed from the fact that contrary to him, the PTI nominee for the women seat from Islamabad smoothly reached the victory point. Her victory will help the government to keep sticking to the claim that it continues to command majority in the National Assembly. The surprising victory of Gillani should not be treated like a vote of no confidence against the Imran government. The partial defeat of Wednesday remains confined to the person of Dr Hafiz Shaikh.

Whatever the spin, the surprise surfacing in Islamabad Wednesday evening, would surely prove doubly embarrassing for Imran Khan. He had been personally investing so many hours to ensure the victory of Dr Hafiz Shaikh, a 'technocrat' inducted in the government as the ultimate in-charge of Pakistan's financial management.

Immediately after taking over, Shaikh had also persuaded the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a long-term 'bailout package' for Pakistan. The mass of our people, however, didn't feel good about it. They strongly feel that IMF-dictated conditions triggered an unbearable wave of inflation and joblessness in the country.

The usual 'electables,' who had joined Imran Khan's PTI too close to holding of the general election in July 2018, almost in droves, have also been feeling extremely uncomfortable over the growing public anger.

In private meetings, they would candidly admit for not being able to face constituents, holding the government solely responsible for the doom and gloom on the economic...