PML-N rules out establishment’s role in ‘rigging’

ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah has said that his party’s initial probe into the alleged rigging in the NA-75 Daska by-poll has not revealed any footprint of the military establishment.

He said that the Punjab government, local administration and police were found involved and the “missing presiding officers” operation was conducted under the command of a deputy superintendent of police ( DSP).

Sanaullah said that the 20 “missing” presiding officers were taken with their consent by the officials of the Special Branch of police to a farmhouse belonging to Haji Imtiaz where the Punjab chief minister’s media adviser Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was also present.

He alleged that DSP Zulfiqar Virk conducted the operation.

He said that Virk was initially appointed as DSP in Daska by the provincial government to manage the by-elections. Following the opposition’s complaints and after the intervention of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), he was removed as DSP Daska but posted in the Special Branch and deputed in the same area.

Sanaullah said that the deputy commissioner and local administration were also involved in appointing chosen presiding officers at selected polling stations.

Sensing that the PTI was losing the elections, he added, the selected presiding officers of 20 selected polling stations were taken to the farmhouse with their consent.

Since the PML-N candidate, he said, was winning the election with a margin of over 3,000 votes, those present in the farmhouse added around 11,000 PTI votes to the tally to make the PTI candidate the winner.

Owing to this, he said, the voter turnout in those specific 20 polling stations sky-rocketed to 80-90 per cent while in the other polling stations it remained below 40 per cent.

Sanaullah said that the “missing” presiding officers had disappeared separately but were taken to the Returning Office together after having been “recovered” by DSP Virk.

He said the entire operation was conducted in a very crude manner with the involvement of the provincial government, local civil administration and police with DSP Virk playing the key role.

The PML- N leader said that the election staff in the field was managed by the provincial government through the deputy commissioner and other officials of the local civil administration.