DADU, Jan 30: A two-member team of European Union election observers met with PPP candidates, the assistant election commissioner and the DPO here on Wednesday.

PPP candidates submitted a complaint in which they accused PML-Q candidates of pre-poll rigging.

The delegation, comprising Gesa Schoenberg and Janno Simm, arrived here under strict security.

The Assistant Election Commissioner, Syed Tanvir Haider, informed them that election material and voters’ record had been burnt during riots that had erupted after assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

He said that they had received new material from the Election Commission which would be distributed among the officials overseeing the elections.

DPO Ayaz Ali Pathan informed the team that of 545 poling stations, 73 had been declared sensitive.

He said that 3,000 policemen would be deployed at polling stations and he had requisitioned 1,500 more policemen from the RPO, Hyderabad.

He said that 1,000 Rangers personnel would also be deployed at polling stations to avert the possibility of clashes.

DPO said that all candidates possessed licensed weapons in large quantity and the administration had not provided weapons to any of the candidate, adding that they also had private security guards.

The EU delegation also visited PPP’s district office and met with party candidates Rafique Ahmed Jamali, Talat Iqbal Mahessar, Pir Mazharul Haq, Syed Ghulam Shah Jilani, Imran Leghari and Faiz Ahmed Butt.

Rafique Ahmed Jamali, who is running from NA-232, complained that local police and administration were supporting the PML-Q candidates. He said that officers favouring PML-Q candidates were being posted in the district y.

He said that such SHOs had booked 600 PPP workers and leaders and over 50,000 people in fake cases lodged after Bhutto’s assassination.

Former law minister and PPP candidate from PS-74 Pir Mazhar complained that polling staff had been changed on the demand of PML-Q candidates.