“So far, widespread rigging as alleged by the PTI has not been found,” says Ibrahim Khan. STOCK IMAGE
An election tribunal on Thursday dismissed a petition against National Assembly member Javed Ali Shah after rigging allegations could not be proved in his constituency.
The petition had been filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ibrahim Khan in the Bahawalpur election tribunal.
Shah had won the NA-152 seat.
Khan had accused Shah of rigging and casting fake votes to alter the election result.
Shah had secured 81,015 votes and Khan 64,611 votes. Ahmed Mujtaba Gillani of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had secured 32,514 votes.
In his petition, Khan alleged rigging in two polling stations at Soman village and Mochipura.
He said counterfeit ballot papers had been used and they did not carry serial numbers.
The tribunal had ordered an audit of the two polling stations.
Votes were recounted and checked for authenticity by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
After no irregularities were found, the tribunal dismissed the petition.
Shah told The Express Tribune that justice had prevailed.
“The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz came to power with the blessings of the people,” he said.
“So far, widespread rigging as alleged by the PTI has not been found.”
He urged the PTI to accept election results and work towards securing the government in the next elections through hard work.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 16th, 2015.
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