ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday rejected unofficial and unconfirmed results of NA-249 Karachi by-election. In a statement issued here, PTI Karachi chapter leader Khurram Sher Zaman accused Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Sindh police of rigging the polls on the behest of Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Sindh government.

He said the top electoral body miserably failed to ensure free, fair and transparent by-polls in NA-249 and played a partial role during the process. He said the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were not campaigning for the by-polls and the survey was showing PTI is going to win. But all of a sudden, he added, the PPP won the polls, which is beyond comprehensions, adding winning the seat vacated by PTI MNA would not have been possible without rigging.

According to unofficial results of all 276 polling stations released by District Returning Officer (DRO), PPP candidate Qadir Khan Mandokhail secured 16,156 votes while PML-N’s Miftah Ismail bagged 15,473 votes. Nazir Ahmed grabbed 11,126 votes and came third. Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) chief Mustafa Kamal received 9,227 votes to remain fourth. PTI candidate Amjad Afridi secured fifth position obtaining 8,922 votes.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021