Sir: The people of Lahore and Okara have given a message on behalf of the rest of Punjab that the choice of candidate, his credibility and track record matters as much as party ticket. Electables matter only when their record is not tarnished. The people of Punjab and the rest of Pakistan through this by-election have given a message that money and power alone cannot buy votes and they have expressed their abhorrence for the land mafia and massive corruption that have made an adverse impact on the life of ordinary citizens. What should have been a walkover for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Punjab became a struggle even to retain its seats in the by-election, which means that all is not well with their governance and performance. Mere building of roads and bridges in Lahore, nor the Metro, otherwise a good project, alone cannot buy the hearts and minds of the people. As for Ayaz Sadiq’s marginal victory, it is a reflection of anger by the people of Lahore against those MNAs and MPAs who abandon their constituents after elections. Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has won with a margin of just around 4,000 votes from NA-122, defeating his opponent, a controversial property tycoon, while in the same constituency from Lahore PP 147, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI’s) Shoaib Siddiqui defeated PML-N’s Mohsin Latif, nephew of Kulsoom Nawaz, by 2,456 votes. In Okara, independent candidate Riazul Haq inflicted a crushing defeat on PML-N’s Chaudhry Arif with a comfortable margin of 39,190 votes, while PTI’s Ashraf Sohna, a defector from the PPP, who had his security confiscated, came fourth. The people of Okara have endorsed disqualification on the grounds of a fake degree by rejecting the son of a disqualified MNA. The message is that all is not well for the PML-N in Central Punjab. They should look beyond the Kashmiri clan and give preference to merit, competence and credibility if they aspire for victory in 2018. Imran Khan has a following in Punjab, but he cannot take them for granted. He must now walk his talk that must be reflected in his choice of candidates and his role as opposition focused on the real issues of the masses. MALIK TARIQ Lahore