LAHORE: An election tribunal on Monday issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on three separate petitions challenging the victory of Federal Minister for Planning and Commission Ahsan Iqbal.
Ahsan Iqbal who contested election from NA-76, Narowal had secured 136279 votes and the petitioner PTI-backed independent candidate Javaid Safdar Kahlon stood runner-up with 109309 votes.
The petitioner alleged that massive rigging and irregularities were committed on the polling day.
He contended that the ECP did not issue forms 45 and 46, but declared the success of the respondent on the basis of form 47.
He asked the court to declare the notification of Ahsan Iqbal’s success null and void.
The court also issued notice to Election Commission of Pakistan in another PTI-backed independent candidate Dr Tahir Ali Javed and Danyal Aziz challenged the election of Anwarul Haq Chaudhry from NA-75 of Narowal and sought replies within a week.
MNA Anwarul Haq won the election with 99625 votes against 75626 bagged by Dr Tahir Ali Javed and 50984 by Danyal Aziz.
In their election petitions, both losing candidates leveled allegations of rigging on the returned candidate of the PML-N.
They alleged that their polling agents were not provided with the form 45.
They asked the tribunal to set aside the election of the respondent and order a fresh poll in the constituency.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024