Imran Khan says Pakistan election body turned 'blind eye' over Punjab bypolls

Punjab [Pakistan], July 18 (ANI): As voting for Punjab's by-elections for 20 constituencies ended, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the provincial government of using the state machinery to rig the by-polls while calling upon the courts to "open now and act".
Taking to Twitter on Sunday, Iman Khan highlighted the incidents that took place throughout Sunday, including the "use of government and state machinery to rig the election, illegal ballot stamping, harassment of voters, and arrests of PTI leaders."
"Today Punjab govt has brazenly violated SC orders & election rules by openly using all govt/State machinery to rig Punjab elections through illegal ballot stamping & harrassing voters while arresting PTI ldrs. Through it all, the ECP turned a blind eye. Courts must open now & act," he said.
All major local media channels are reporting that the country's former Prime Minister's PTI is leading in 17 seats of the 20 provincial seats.
As per these reports, the massive alliance of big leaders like Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, PM Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is nearing a big defeat in the province.
There are only 2 seats where PLM-N is leading and 1 seat for Independent.
Punjab was under the control of the PTI party until April when then-Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar resigned after the federal parliament took up a no-confidence against Khan.
The PTI's subsequent nominee for the position was defeated as a faction among the party's state lawmakers voted for the PML-N's candidate instead.
Khan then successfully petitioned the Election Commission of Pakistan to remove the state assembly lawmakers for illegally voting against the party's directive, leaving 20 seats vacant.
It will be a close race as Sharif's party currently holds 165 seats while PTI controls 163. Sharif controls the assembly with coalition members.
The polling began at 8 am and continued till 5 pm but in several districts polling was stopped due to clashes, reported Dunya News.
20 seats fell vacant after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) "de-seated" 25 PTI dissident lawmakers on May 23 for voting against PML-N's Hamza Shahbaz in the Punjab chief minister's election.
By-elections were held in 20 constituencies of Punjab Assembly including polling stations PP-7 Rawalpindi, PP-83 Khushab, PP-90 Bhakkar, PP-97 Faisalabad; PP-125, PP-127 Jhang, PP-140 Sheikhupura,PP-158, 167,168,170 Lahore;PP-167, Lahore, PP-202 Sahiwa,; PP-217 Multan, PP-224 Lodhran, PP-228 Lodhran, PP-237 Bahawalnagar, PP-272,273 Muzaffargarh,PP-282 Layyah and PP-288 Dera Ghazi Khan.
A total of 4.57 million registered voters, including 2.46 million women, were eligible to cast ballot in the by-polls. As many as 3140 polling stations, including 731 male, 700 female and 1700 combined polling stations had been established across the 20 constituencies.
A total of 9,562 polling booths had been set up for the by-polls. The ECP had declared 1204 polling stations sensitive and 696 highly sensitive.
Polling stations from Lahore and Multan had also been declared sensitive. Provincial Election Commissioner Saeed Gul had said that the Election Commission was completely neutral and there was no truth in the allegations, they were working according to the Constitution and the law.
The Punjab Assembly has a total of 371 members, of which 20 seats are vacant at the moment, bringing the total number of MPAs in the Punjab Assembly down to 351.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill was arrested from Muzaffargarh on Monday for allegedly carrying and displaying weapons on his visit to polling stations during the Punjab by-elections. (ANI)