PTI leaders at the press conference on Tuesday. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, PTI leaders also protested against police harassment of their workers on government directives.
The issue of fake votes had been at the centre stage in the election campaign as candidates of all major parties raised accusations against one another. At a recent press conference, PML-N MNA Pervaiz Malik and Adviser to Chief Minister Khwaja Imran Nazir had accused the PTI of registering 1,900 fake votes in the constituency.
On Tuesday, PTI candidate Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan said that acting on the PTI’s application the Election Commission of Pakistan had removed 700 fake votes. He said he estimated that there were another 700 fake votes in the electoral rolls registered by the PMLN candidate. He said 600 of the votes removed on the PTI’s request were registered in Sheikhupura and 127 in Nankana Sahib.
Dewan said the number of voters registered in the constituency was 3,935. The number had been 6, 700 before the ECP started reviewing it for counterfeits. He said he believed that around 3,000 of the currently registered voters were genuine and the rest were counterfeit. He said several of the counterfeit votes had been registered from Lahore’s Chungi Amar Sidhu area.
Dewan welcomed the deployment of Army at polling stations, saying he hoped this would prevent any untoward incident on the polling day on July 21. Dewan said the ruling PML-N government valued friendship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than the Kashmiri’s cause.
PTI MPA Shoaib Siddiqi said if there was any evidence establishing that the PTI had carried out pre-poll rigging the PML-N candidate should approach the ECP. “They [PML-N] are in power and control the state machinery. Why can’t they take up the issue of pre-poll rigging with the ECP?” he asked. Former PTI Punjab president Ejaz Chaudhry warned the government against creating unrest in the region ahead of the elections. He alleged that the government was arresting PTI workers on baseless charges to create an atmosphere of fear ahead of the elections.
Chaudhry said the PTI was participating in the AJK elections to further the cause of Kashmiris. He said the government was using state machinery to harass PTI workers in various Punjab districts.
Chaudhry condemned the government for what he said was its ignorance on announcing a black day against Indian atrocities in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) on July 19. He said July 19 was observed in the Kashmir as the Accession to Pakistan Day. “The PTI hopes that the army will maintain law and order and ensure a free and fair election on July 21,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2016.
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