PTI alleges pre-poll rigging attempts

Local Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Rafiq Khan Niazi has alleged that the Punjab government is trying to rig the forthcoming by-elections for a provincial assembly seat from Bhakkar district.

Addressing a press conference, Rafiq Khan Niazi, who is a covering candidate for PTI’s main candidate for the seat, Irfanullah Khan Niazi, claimed that government officials were being pressured to indulge in illegal acts through video link. He said he had received reports about plans to rig the elections in 35 polling stations and cast 20,000 fake votes. He said the ruling PML-N was known to have indulged in such malpractices in the past, but the district returning officer had failed to allay the concerns of the PTI.

He said the staff deputed at all polling stations in the constituency should reach the DRO’s camp office at Darya Khan within one and a half hours.

Rafiq Niazi also alleged that govt departments were being used to stop PTI supporters from campaigning on the pretext of the Fourth Schedule.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 8^th, 2022.