PTI cries rigging as PML-N’s Cheema leads NA-101 by-poll

• PTI supporters clash with police outside RO’s office as they accuse govt of manipulating results in its candidate’s favour

At least three policemen were reported injured on Tuesday night as violent clashes broke out between supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ahmad Chattha and police personnel, as unofficial results of the by-election in NA-101 showed the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s Iftikhar Ahmad Cheema leading the tightly contested electoral battle.

According to sources in the constituency and police officials concerned, the PTI supporters pelted stones and glass bottles on the police personnel deployed outside the returning officer’s office while protesting alleged rigging by the PML-N candidate. In retaliation, the policemen resorted to firing tear gas shells and baton charge on the political activists.

Pakistan Army personnel had been deployed in the constituency to maintain law and order during the day, however the situation went out of control later in the night.

PTI candidate Ahmad Chattha posted on his social media page around 10pm that he has won the election with a margin of 6200 votes. After some time, he claimed that the Assistant Commissioner (AC) Wazirabad had refused to give him the final result, and accused the administration of conspiring to change the election result.

Talking to Pakistan Today on the telephone, Ahmad Chattha’s father, veteran politician Hamid Nasir Chattha claimed that results from 90 polling stations had “vanished into thin air” as their polling agents had yet to receive them from the presiding officers concerned.

The senior Chattha claimed that he had heard that PML-N senior leader Hamza Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in Wazirabad and was trying to allegedly manipulate the results.

Ahmad Chattha, who was present at Govt Degree College Wazirabad, told Pakistan Today that he would not leave the spot until Returning Officer Tahir Mansoor Khan handed him the final result.

“I’m trying to calm my supporters but we will not allow anyone to steal our election,” he said.

Returning Officer Tahir Mansoor said that they had received results from 200 polling stations while result from 62 polling stations was yet to reach them.

According to unofficial and unconfirmed results, PML-N candidate Justice (r) Iftikhar Cheema has secured 83,166 votes while PTI’s Ahmad Chattha bagged 80,355 votes.

Pakistan Today made repeated attempts to contact Cheema but was informed that the PML-N candidate was busy receiving greetings on his election victory.

Malik Shoaib, a voter of the NA-101 constituency, told Pakistan Today that Chattha was leading the race when the result of 150 polling stations came out.

“The presiding officers were reluctant to give away results to the polling agents for reasons best known to them after the results of 150 polling stations,” he said.

On the other hand, a PML-N supporter Heera Butt told Pakistan Today that it has become PTI’s habit to cry rigging after every electoral defeat.

Butt said that the voters of NA-101 have reposed their confidence in Nawaz Sharif once again by voting for PML-N’s candidate.

FAFEN REPORTS IRREGULARITIES:

Meanwhile, election monitoring watchdog FAFEN tweeted that “polling staff was observed stamping ballot papers on voters’ behalf at six polling stations in #NA101”.

FAFEN also reported as many as 171 instances of insufficient availability of critical election material. It also reported presence of unauthorized men inside seven polling stations in the constituency.