Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan accuses police, polling staff of rigging during Punjab by-polls

Islamabad [Pakistan], July 18 (ANI): The political party Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protested against the police and the polling staff involved in Punjab election and also accused them of rigging in favour of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) candidate.
This protest halted the polling process in Punjab province for almost an hour at polling station number 63 in Pir Garh Chishti, McLeod Ganj, in PP-237.
TLP district emir Syed Sarwar Saifi said that the polling staff removed their covering candidate from the polling station at about 9 am and did not allow him to enter it. At about 3 pm, the polling staff asked everyone to leave the polling station, telling them that the polling time had ended, he said and alleged that the staff then started stamping votes in favour of the PML-N candidate in the voting register by closing the station door, Dawn reported.
Dawn citing sources reported that in the district, police claimed that the TLP men had broken the law and unauthorised persons had entered the polling station by scaling its boundary wall.
Saifi said when the TLP workers suspected foul play they tried to go inside the polling station to inspect the matter; however, the police officials forcibly stopped them from going inside.
TLP district emir alleged that when they finally succeeded in entering the poll station, they saw the presiding officer casting their fake votes while the voting register was full of stamped votes for the PML-N candidate without the entry of the computerised national identity card (CNIC) numbers.
Meanwhile, after the Punjab election, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan urged the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja to resign, claiming that his party won despite the use of state machinery in PML-N's favour as he insisted that early elections were still the only solution to the country's woes, according to Dawn.
While addressing his supporters on Monday after winning the Punjab by-elections, Khan thanked youngsters and women who came out in large numbers to vote for PTI.
"I believe this is the moment in the history of Pakistan that we should be thankful for because the nation has awakened," Imran remarked. "People have finally understood the ideology of Pakistan."
The former Prime Minister stressed the economic crisis that Pakistan is facing that was fuelled by the political mess in the country.
"Our reserves have shrunk by half since PML-N came to power. Despite the agreement with IMF (International Monetary Fund) in sight, our rupee is declining." (ANI)