HYDERABAD, Oct 8: People's Party Parliamentarians candidate Dr Mahesh Malani, who had boycotted the by-election for NA-229 Tharparkar-I, has alleged that the government candidate, Arbab Zakaullah, broke all the previous records of rigging by bagging over 180,000 votes.

Talking to Dawn here on Friday, he alleged that due to the boycott announced by the PPP, only five per cent votes had been cast in towns and less than two per cent votes in rural areas.

He said a majority of voters had cast their votes four or five times and added that under the orders of the government, the polling officers started stamping the votes.

He asked that the Election Commission who cancel the results and demanded an independent commission be appointed to make inquiries into the rigging. He also demanded re-election in the constituency.