ISLAMABAD: PTI candidate in NA-74 Sialkot, Ghulam Abbas, on Wednesday claimed that elections were rigged in his constituency and urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct elections in the area again.

Almost all political parties other than PTI have been claiming the July 25 elections were rigged. Mr Abbas is now accusing presiding officers in his constituency of being involved in rigging.

According to the result announced by the ECP, PML-N’s Ali Zahid secured 97,235 votes while Mr Abbas got 93,734.

The PTI candidate said he was winning by over 13,000 votes and that all television channels had also reported so. However, he said the results in his constituency were stopped on election night around 1pm.

He said his polling agents were also forced to leave the polling station without the result or Form 45.

He alleged that the presiding officers were favouring his opponents and that they submitted results after 22 hours. He claims that later on during the recounting process, it was also found that seals on all 95 bags were broken. Mr Abbas has demanded that investigations should be launched against presiding officers.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2018