LARKANA, June 17: People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA Mohammed Anwar Bhutto has alleged that more than 250,000 voters have not been included in the fresh voter lists in Larkana district.

Talking to Dawn after attending a meeting of party workers from his constituency here on Sunday, he demanded general elections on the basis of the voters’ lists of 2002.

He said that during the local bodies’ elections, the number of registered voters in Larkana was 601,200 but the new voter lists contained 349,000 names, depicting a difference of 251,000 voters.

A majority of the voters’ whose names were missing was from the PPP’s constituencies, he said and alleged that the reduction in the number of voters indicated that the government was indulging into pre-poll rigging to inflict defeat on the PPP in the ensuing general elections.

The MNA alleged that mobile vans of the NADRA were staying for more than prescribed time in the areas of the ministers and pro-government politicians whereas in his constituency, a NADRA van did not stay after 5pm.

Using these tactics, the number of the PPP’s voters was being slashed systematically he said.

He said that complaints were made with the Sukkur director-general of the NADRA about overstay of mobile vans but in vain.

The voters were facing difficulties in verifying their names in the lists as neither the staff concerned was available nor the lists were properly displayed, he said. He said that such complaints had been sent to the NADRA chairman.

Mr Bhutto called for extending the deadline for inserting voters’ names in the lists and said that identification through driving and arms licence and passport should be allowed to facilitate the people to get their votes registered.