LAHORE, Jan 12: Pakistan People’s Party nominee for National Assembly constituency 130 Samina Khalid Ghurki has also come out with allegations of pre-poll rigging against the former ruling party and its provincial president, Pervaiz Elahi.

At a press conference here on Saturday, she alleged billions of rupees from the Baitul Mal’s Khud Kafalat (self-employment) Scheme were being spent on PML-Q’s electioneering.

She said the party collected voters’ addresses from the list prepared by the Election Commission and Pervaiz Elahi began mailing money orders worth Rs1,500 to each family as the ‘chief minister’ despite not having the office after Nov 15, 2007.

The money orders were being received by the families in the constituencies where the Chaudhry himself or some one from his family was contesting the polls, she said.

She also alleged that 10 million pamphlets had recently been published at the government printing press and were being distributed among students through schoolteachers.

She regretted the caretakers were utilising state resources for PML-Q’s electioneering contrary to President Musharraf’s claim that the polls would be free, fair and transparent.

Also alleging violation of EC’s code about transfers and postings of government employees ahead of elections, she said Pervaiz Elahi was still getting posted his favourite functionaries whom he could not appoint before Nov 15, 2007.

Quoting an instance of what she called PML-Q’s hold on civil bureaucracy, she said low-paid employees of the revenue, education and sanitation departments were bussed to the public meeting addressed by former chief minister in Youhannabad locality a couple of weeks ago.

The PPP nominee also alleged that the Chaudhrys were the patrons of some top police officers who got terrorism cases registered against thousands of party activists after assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The activists, she said, were now being harassed through a series of arrests so that they could not come out in support of PPP candidates.

Asked why the party was not boycotting the polls despite its fears about rigging, Ms Ghurki said because the party’s slain leader had decided to take part in the electoral process at all costs.