‘Pre-poll rigging’: Candidates protest against PML-N hopeful

SWAT:

Several local government candidates from Jura union council of Kabal on Friday protested against an aspirant pitted by PML-N in the UC, accusing him of pre-poll rigging.

Addressing journalists at Swat Press Club, Farman Ali Khan, a PTI candidate, said PML-N’s Faridoon Khan is harassing voters and threatening them with dire consequences if they did not vote for him.

ANP aspirant Fida Khan said despite sending multiple requests to the DPO and DC asking them to declare the UC sensitive and deploy policemen at the polling station – which is a tent school – the officials have not paid any heed.

Similarly, Naimat Subhan and Khurshid Ali, independents, also accused Faridoon of pre-poll rigging. “He is a feudal lord and has influence, but he has no authority to force someone to vote for him,” said Ali.

The candidates said the district government felt pressurised by Faridoon. They warned the government will be held responsible for any untoward incident if it failed to take any action against Faridoon.

According to the candidates, ANP, PTI and JI have formed an alliance in the union council.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2015.