ISLAMABAD - Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stood on the sprawling lawn of a house in an upscale Islamabad neighbourhood as two German Shepherd dogs played around. The politician from Rawalpindi has recently taken up this residence, secured with high boundary walls and guards. A bulletproof land cruiser was parked, behind another SUV draped by a car cover, in the driveway. “It is my hideout,” Sheikh Rashid said, puffing his trademark Cuban cigar, as he pointed towards the house.

The manicured lawn and a quiet, leafy street is a far cry from the teeming, populated Rawalpindi constituency Sheikh Rashid, as he is popularly known, represents. But Lal Haveli, the pre-partition building that is his traditional political base, is under the threat of a militant attack. Furthermore, the government has accused him of forcibly occupying the building. He has been given the warning to vacate it by March. 8.

Sheikh Rashid is, however, undeterred. “What do I have to lose? I am a suicide bomber politician,” he says.

While he rejects the possibility of losing Lal Haveli, he has decided to set up this house and eventually plans to use it as his alternate office. Renovation work was still undergoing in the upper portion over the weekend.

As the controversy about the wealth accumulated overseas by the Sharif family lingers in the Supreme Court, the wily politician smells victory.

He has been present in each Supreme Court hearing, like a diligent student who never bunks classes. “I wasn’t regular in going to my school and college, but here I am very punctual,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court proceedings, popularly known as the Panama case. “It is a very, very important and very crucial and very decisive case of this country. And, I am witnessing history.”

“The judges will write a historical decision, whatsoever it will be,” he said, leaning on the drawing room sofa.

The Panama Papers revelations have resuscitated the political fortunes of both Sheikh Rashid and Imran Khan, the nemesis of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Known for coining witty political one-liners, Sheikh Rashid is unabashed over his previous predictions about the fall of the government. His 2014 statement that there will be a political sacrifice before Eidul Azha, the sacrifice feast, had made rounds. “I stand by it,” he said. “What could we do if the butcher ran away? The soldier did not contact. I don’t know why it happened,” he said, referring to the military.

This time, however, he talks even with more certitude.

“No matter what decision comes, Nawaz Sharif will be damaged in this case,” Sheikh Rashid said.

“If Imran Khan listens to me, I want to drag Panama to elections,” he said. “If a commission is formed, I will support it. Imran Khan is also mentally ready for a commission.”

He says that the Panama Papers controversy has resonance with former US President Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal and the Bofors guns scandal, the kickbacks case that led to the then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s defeat in 1989 elections.

“I want to create a movement like that,” he said.

The only problem he faces is the mercurial political temperament of Imran Khan.

“I am with Khan. I like him. He listens to me,” he said. “But Khan has his set-up, his party, and compulsions.”

Last October, Sheikh Rashid made nationwide headlines when despite a police crackdown, he managed to reach a venue for a protest rally. Earlier, he posted videos of a breathless ride through the maze of Rawalpindi streets as he tried to evade police arrest.

“I have done nothing for my constituency this time, but people say that my Oct 28 motorcycle show won their hearts,” Sheikh Rashid said, his face flushed pink with pride.

“People say that, just like Express Train, you reached for the protest on time,” he said.

Such theatrics are a hallmark of Sheikh Rashid’s politics, just like the statements he makes, attributing to the working class people of his constituency.

“There is a samosa seller in my constituency by the name of Jhaka,” Rashid said. “Jhaka says that Sheikh Sahab due to your motorcycle show, our constituency is safe for a win,” he said. “I don’t want to sound proud, but I will take a historic vote in the next elections.”

Sheikh Rashid is however worried for the other Rawalpindi constituency from where Imran Khan won the last election. “Despite my wish, Khan has not visited the constituency. So, I have a big trouble and big problem. If I have to contest from that constituency also then financially, it will be a big problem for me,” he said.

Still, he hopes that Panama Papers case will rescue him and he has based his entire current political strategy around this controversy. “I love politics. I don’t like anything else – girls, drinking or gambling. I hate all these things. I love politics,” he stressed.

“Money is neither my weakness nor do I have a shortage of money for myself, my cigar, my clothes, and food,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about children’s fees or wife’s expenses.”

“Imran Khan believes in family,” he said, referring to his political ally though he likes to talk about the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader more of as a friend.

“Khan is still waiting for marriage,” Rashid said. “I told him many times that there is a time for everything. One should think a lot before taking up a job in a bank or getting married in old age. Khan said to me that it was an awful statement. I replied that it’s a fact. I cannot stop my inner Sheikh Rashid from speaking out,” he said.

For now, Sheikh Rashid cannot wait until Wednesday when he will get another chance to appear before the Supreme Court judges in the Panama Papers case. “I am going to present such evidence that it will tilt the whole balance of the case,” he said. When pressed to provide more details, the typically outspoken Sheikh Rashid demurred and said he could only disclose that his evidence will cause enormous political damage. “It will be just like a nuclear strike,” he said.