LAHORE: Terming the Election Commission of Pakistan's statement regarding the NA-75 by-election was a 'charge sheet' against the sitting government; PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz has demanded a re-polling in NA-75 Daska constituency.

Talking to media here at Model Town, she said, "We demand a re-poll in NA-75 Daska instead of polling on only 20 polling stations; we will not sit quite until a re-poll."

Expressing hope that the ECP will not become a tool of "fake government" she said, "I will not let them breathe a sigh of relief until they return our victory with lead in NA-75."

She alleged that the workers of PTI, its candidate and his nephews resorted to firing on polling day and spread panic among the people. She expressed her heartfelt condolences over the loss of two lives during by-polls.

Maryam said that the people of Daska, Wazirabad and Nowshera had woken up after the 2018 elections and kept watch over the votes in by-polls, and caught the vote thieves red-handed this time. The PML-N workers went out to cast their votes in an atmosphere of rigging and the party won a resounding victory in all the three constituencies.

Felicitating Ikhtiar Wali on winning the election, she said that after visiting Nowshera it became clear that the PML-N will win the election.

Elaborating Daska polling event, she said, "There was firing, polling was slowed, people were killed and bags of votes were stolen. Where was the chief minister, the chief secretary, the police, the IG and the administration," she questioned.

She claimed that the PTI rigged the Daska and Wazirabad by-polls because it knew that the PML-N would win by an 'overwhelming majority' their camps were empty. When they went into the field they must have seen the turnout at their own camps which would have made them anxious with worry.

She said there is a video that shows a PTI MNA standing beside those firing shots. Their candidate and their people opened fire in markets and streets which claimed the lives of two citizens. She lashed out at the government for blaming the opposition.

"Have you ever heard of polling stations being closed for four to five hours? They closed the doors while their own ministers were sitting inside. What were they doing," she questioned, adding that a minister from the ruling-PTI was also "caught red-handed".

She said there are 361 polling stations in Daska. We had the results of 337 which showed that we were winning. However, we waited and the results stopped at 337. When our people looked into it, we were told that approximately 22 returning officers had disappeared and could not be contacted, she added.

She claimed that ECP officials were made to vanish. "No one knows where these officials went for 14 hours or where they were kept," she added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021