Oxford vs Cambridge in clash of Pakistan's ruling dynasties

One studied at Oxford, the other at Cambridge. Their rivalry dates back almost 40 years, to when the family of one saw their business empire ravaged by the nationalisation policy of the other.

But what Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have in common is being glamorous heirs to Pakistan's leading political dynasties. Both will be prominent voices in the general elections due in May.

Poetry-loving Ms Sharif is the daughter of Nawaz Sharif, a wealthy industrialist from the Punjabi city of Lahore, who fell out with Bhutto Zardari's late grandfather, Zulfiqar Bhutto, after he nationalised the Sharif businesses as Pakistan's socialist leader in the 1970s. Himself a two-time prime minister, Sharif is frontrunner to emerge with the largest party and the first crack at forming a coalition after the poll of Pakistan's 80?million voters.

During the campaign, his daughter is acting as one of his chief campaigners and mouthpieces - particularly on women's rights - and is expected to succeed him one day.

"His legacy is beautiful," she told an interviewer last year. "Who would not want to step into those shoes?"

A party insider added: "She has grown very close to her father and you can see her learning from him."

Already on a similar path is Oxford-educated Bhutto Zardari, who became the third generation of Bhuttos to lead the Pakistan People's Party after his mother, Benazir, was assassinated in December 2007.

Only a scattering of members were present on Thursday when Pakistan's national assembly quietly dissolved itself at the end of its five-year term. It was a historic moment. If elections go to plan, Pakistan will see the first democratic transition of power in its 65-year history, a period marked by political instability and three military coups.

Bhutto Zardari's father, Asif Ali Zardari, has been president of Pakistan since 2008, when he was catapulted into the political limelight after the assassination of his wife, Benazir, in a suicide attack as she campaigned for a third stint as prime minister.

At 24, their son is too young to stand in elections, but a constituency is waiting for him, reportedly the troubled neighbourhood of Lyari in Karachi, as a 25th birthday present.

Both political novices have been hitting the campaign trail, becoming very public campaigners for their fathers.

"Bilawal will represent the Bhutto legacy and Maryam will be very active with women," said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political commentator. "We'll be seeing them in campaign mode for the first time."

Ms Sharif, 39, has helped run her family's charitable trust for the past decade or so but has recently carved out her own niche touring schools and colleges, where she addresses students on the importance of education and women's rights.

She is also doing a PhD through Cambridge University about Islamic radicalisation in Pakistan, a subject that no politician in the country can afford to ignore. While her father's party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, or PML-N, has been accused of being lenient towards Islamic militancy, she has said: "There is no place for extremism and militancy in Islam."

Many in Pakistan still know her best for the scandal surrounding her choice of husband. Rather than a traditional arranged marriage, she fell in love with Captain Muhammad Safdar, when he was aide de camp to her father.

Ms Sharif underwent a political awakening during almost a decade in exile after her family fled to Saudi Arabia during the rule of General Pervez Musharraf.

"I found some solace when I visited holy places, but the yearning for the homeland never abated," she told Newsweek, a period she described as her rebirth.

She is now widely expected to contest the constituency of Raiwind, where her father built a palace from what was left of the family fortune after the nationalisation of their steel business in the 1970s.

She is also a regular user of Twitter, issuing missives such as: "Another survey endorses PMLN as largest most popular party in Pakistan."

Her rival, who graduated with a 2:1 in history, could perhaps be forgiven for avoiding politics, given that it has claimed the lives of his mother and his grandfather, who was executed on the orders of Pakistan's former dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq. But he moved centre stage when his father was flown to hospital in Dubai a little over a year ago, amid rumours of a military takeover against his presidency.

State media then pictured Bhutto Zardari chairing government and political meetings, a move which commentators said was designed to remind Pakistan that President Zardari and the Bhutto dynasty were still firmly in power. Since then his profile has grown. He has become a familiar sight at his father's side, welcoming world leaders to Pakistan, and his love life has been the subject of speculation by the nation's media.

Last year, Hina Rabbani Khar, the country's glamorous foreign minister, was forced to deny that she was having an affair with the president's son, a rumour that some claimed was part of a smear campaign run by the military.

Bhutto Zardari's fans hope that he will restore his mother's party to its traditional compassionate, Leftist position, but fear his privileged upbringing and foreign education have disconnected him from ordinary voters.

His late mother, they say, would also have made sure that he had a firmer grasp of Urdu.

Naheed Khan, who was close to Bhutto, said her son risked being exposed too early if he was expected to defend his father's unpopular government.

"He has to take a very clear decision: whether he wants to carry his grandfather and grandmother's legacy or he wants to go along with his father and what his father has done in five years," she said.

Whoever wins in the elections, one thing seems certain: Pakistan's political dynasties show few signs of fading away.