February 25, 2008	Monday	Safar 17, 1429

TOBA TEK SINGH, Feb 24: Two defeated National Assembly candidates, one from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the other from the Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), have accused the winners of poll rigging.

Speaking at a press conference at the district press club here on Sunday, PML-N candidate in NA-92 M Hamza said the government rigged the poll in the favour of PML-Q candidate Begum Farkhanda Amjad Warraich and she won. He said the Gojra DDOR, DSP and tehsildar openly campaigned for Ms Warraich and her armed men took hold of various polling station, made PML-N voters flee and cast all votes for her.

Hamza said he repeatedly wrote to the chief election commissioner in this regard before the election, but no arrangements were made to foil Ms Warraich’s rigging plan. He said the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited illegally continued work in 15 to 20 villages on the direction of the Warraich group and the PML-Q leadership sent Rs2 million financial aid for Ms Warraich.

The PML-N loser said Ms Warraich’s husband Chaudhry Amjad Ali Warraich was elected member of the National Assembly in 2002, but he was not a graduate. He said the Supreme Court disqualified him a few days before the end of his five-year term, but he again produced a fake BA degree and filed his nomination papers. He said he moved an application to the returning officer for registration of a case against Mr Warraich for showing a fake degree, but no case was ordered against him.

Separately, PML-Q loser from NA-93 Mian Kashif Ashfaq said people did not vote for him in the Feb 18 election because they held his party responsible for price hike, gas and power loadshedding and the flour crisis in the country.

Speaking to reporters in Kamalia on Sunday, he said although District Nazim Chaudhry Abdul Sattar belonged to PML-Q, he supported PML-N candidate Mian Junaid Anwaar and used government machinery in his favour because he was his grandson. He said presiding officers helped his rival win the election on the direction of the district nazim. He said the election commission was informed in this regard, but no action was taken against the district nazim.