Punjab by-polls: ‘Rigging has begun’ as two PTI polling agents expelled

ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Shehbaz Gill has claimed that the rigging has begun in the by-polls on 20 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly and shared that their polling agents in Muzaffargarh were not allowed to check the empty ballot boxes, ARY NEWS reported.

Taking to Twitter, Shehbaz Gill said the two polling agents of their candidates in PP-272 (Muzaffargarh) were expelled from polling stations, 44 and 46, and now they were not allowed to check empty ballot boxes and the number of ballot papers available with the presiding officer.

“Now we do not know how many fake votes will be polled in these polling stations,” he said, adding that the government has begun rigging.

Pp 272

— Dr. Shahbaz GiLL (@SHABAZGIL) July 17, 2022

Meanwhile, the provincial election commissioner Punjab rejected the allegations levelled by Shahbaz Gill and said that PTI polling agent Ameer Baksh was present at station 44 while no polling agent of the party reached polling station 46.

“Only agents approved by the party are allowed to sit in the station,” he said and asked the PTI leaders to avoid making the electoral process disputed through unverified claims.

The polling for the ‘do and die’ by-elections on 20 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly has begun after top leaders from PTI and PML-N led by Imran Khan and Maryam Nawaz launched a whirlwind campaign to support their candidates.

The by-polls on the 20 Punjab Assembly seats, vacated after the PTI MPAs voted for Hamza Shahbaz in the Chief Minister (CM) elections, will be conducted on Sunday (today).

The results of the by-polls would be essential for the CM vote count, ordered by the Supreme Court (SC), in the Punjab Assembly in July 2022.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) needs to win a total of nine seats in today’s by-elections to gain a majority to elect their chief minister in the biggest province of the country.