Was/Is PTI an aberration?

PTI rose as a phoenix in the last one decade. For sixteen years it wandered the lonely terrain of politics in desolation till a changed political environment sought an alternate option. That is when Imran Khan and his PTI began to be seen and became a serious prospect. At least that is the more popular and acknowledged narrative of how the PTI shed obscurity to find the eminence which became its fortune till a few weeks ago. More specifically, 9th May, when the bubble burst. And thus, the question: was/is PTI an aberration?

Popular politics is a lot about sentiment. And none plays it better than Imran Khan. He has the reluctant charm, the charisma and an enigmatic record across the sociocultural backdrop to woo many. He used it to full effect in cultivating a place for himself among the hallowed. And then he went to work. He kindled the imagination of the urban middle class and the upper middle class in a political society where elites shunned politics as a common man's occupation. He brought these urban and social elites into the political fold and became an item of social eminence. Once in their hands he availed unmatched elite support and power through connections which cut across the political spectrum. That gave the 'idea' a possession and ownership. The 'idea' itself remained mostly unexplained. Come the slightest bump in this predatory political game of thrones and he was whisked over it with a nudge here and a wink there. He was after all in the ownership of the most influential and the most powerful in the country.

Those arrayed against IK were left lamenting, undone by their own elite cohorts who were substantially invested in supporting their political nemesis through wards, relations and circle of friends, if not personally. That he irked them and mocked them with his unassailability in public perception only added insult to injury. Till May 9th, of course, when IK blundered into handing it all back on a platter to his beleaguered opposition. This was the most telling in the series of errors that he was forced into by poor counsel and vain arrogance after being forced out of power. Rather than play politics he chose force as an option and lost when contending against the cumulative power of the state and the 'system'. He failed to recognise the limits of his potential. He was a product of the 'most powerful' and a possession of the 'most influential'. But when pitched against the absolute power of the state and his creators, he...