KARACHI, Jan 17: The chief of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain, has accused the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal of conspiring to destroy peace in Karachi and the rest of Sindh.

He said this while addressing newly-elected members of the assembly and other cadres on Thursday night.

Mr Hussain claimed that as the MMA had sensed its defeat in bye-elections in Orangi, its activists allegedly attacked MQM offices and ransacked them and injured some activists.

He claimed that despite support of all the political parties, the MMA could not overwhelm the MQM which exposed the hollowness of the religious constellation. He said that the outcome of bye- election had proved that in Oct 10 elections the MMA had allegedly committed massive rigging.

The MQM chief was bitter over the killing of Salman Farooqui and Syed Masood Ali.

Meanwhile, the MMA has also levelled similar allegations against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and has claimed that the MQM- dominated government in Sindh had consciously embarked on a policy of confrontation with the MMA to destroy peace and to obstruct progress and development through the local government.

Peoples Party Parliamentarians’ leader Syed Qaim Ali Shah also claimed that Jan 15 bye-elections were engineered and were a big fraud with the people.

He said the PPP had to boycott elections because constituencies had been turned into “no-go areas” for its candidates.

He alleged that many of the PPP workers and polling agents were abducted and subjected to grave harassment by the police.