The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday ordered the recounting of and verification of thumb impressions on votes polled in two National Assembly and seven Punjab Assembly seats.
After allegations of rigging on PP-39 Khushab-I, PP-43 Mianwali-I, PP-205 Multan-XII, PP-9 Rawalpindi-IX, PP-257 Muzaffargarh-VII, PP-155 Lahore-XIX and PP-156 Lahore-XX as well as two National Assembly seats, including NA-125 Lahore-VIII, the commission ordered the recounting and thumb impressions’ verification.
It is pertinent to note that activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had alleged rigging during the elections for NA-125 and had staged a sit-in to register their protest over the result from the said constituency.
Earlier, Khawaja Saad Rafique of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won the seat securing over 120,000 votes and defeating PTI’s Hamid Khan who bagged 83,000 votes. Hamid Khan had requested the ECP for a vote recount on NA-125, which the commission had reportedly rejected at the time.