A peacock spreads his feathers in the manicured lawns of the Raiwind estate, in Lahore. But this is not peacock territory, Raiwind is home to the ‘Lions of Punjab’, the Sharif brothers, who have governed the province for approximately 17 years and now have their sights firmly set on the premiership of the country itself.

Their prey is not proving to be an easy hunt. Facing them is Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Imran Khan, who has become the symbol of change for many of millions of young voters.

Nawaz Sharif is still leading in the polls, but only by a very slight margin. Inside the luxurious Raiwind estate, the twice former prime minister appears confident.

“Why would I have to make a coalition? I will win enough seats for a comfortable majority,” says Nawaz, when asked if he would prefer a coalition with the PTI or PPP.

Even in the middle of one of his toughest campaigns, Nawaz doesn’t miss a chance to take a swipe at his old arch-rival, Pervez Musharraf. “If I come to power, I will form a commission on Kargil and hold Musharraf and those who assisted him accountable. I believe the army wants to see Musharraf held accountable for all his misdeeds.”

But what of his new rival, the one who keeps challenging him to a live TV debate?“For a TV debate one must maintain decorum and I am not interested in having a debate with someone who crosses the limits of decency.”

They may never come face to face on TV, but in the last two weeks, neither has missed an opportunity to slam the other in election rallies across Punjab.

And today Nawaz Sharif is headed to yet another jalsa in Okara which, in a telling indicator of the PPP’s strength, is known as ‘mini Larkana’.

At 5:30pm, a helicopter flies him from Raiwind to Okara, where a large crowd has been waiting for over four hours. Young boys hang from tree branches to get a glimpse of the ‘Sher’. But not everyone is there for fun, a few women from behind the security fence scream into the camera, “Will we get a chance to see him?

We have no gas in our neighbourhood, can he fix it?” The lack of basic amenities in the last five years is squarely blamed on the federal government, even though under the 18th Amendment power has been devolved to the provinces.