Electoral Performance of Religio-Political Parties in Pakistan: An Analysis of 1970 Elections

This paper aims to analyze the electoral performance of religio-political parties in Pakistan with special reference to the first general elections of 1970 held on the basis of adult franchise. This paper seeks to answer the following questions at length to what extent were religio-political parties able to change their supporters into their voters in the 1970 elections, and to what extent did their election campaign and their manifestos reflect the ideological position of religio-political parties with the aim to make Pakistan an ideal Islamic state according to their political vision and what was the impact of sectarian affiliations of religio-political parties on their election performance. To get the answer to these questions a comprehensive analysis of three leading religio-political parties of Pakistan namely Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam(JUI), and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan(JUP) is presented in this paper. Similarly, the political positioning of Shias during the elections of 1970 is also discussed.