PTI presents facts & numbers of ballot papers to JC

Islamabad
Tuesday was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) day in Judicial Commission, probing rigging in 2013 elections, as the party’s legal team had presented some real facts and numbers during the proceedings, strengthening the party’s claim that Election Commission had printed extra ballot papers in some key constituencies belonging to top leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The party’s counsel Abdul Hafiz Pirzada presented figures of nine such constituencies where staggering difference were observed between the numbers of registered voters and number of printed ballot papers. He claimed that there are 20 to 25 such constituencies which were later termed by party chief Imran Khan as “VIP constituencies.”
However talking to newsmen after the conclusion of yesterday’s proceedings of the Commission, PML-N Ministers Anusha Rehman and Zubair Umar strongly defended printing of extra ballot papers and termed it a routine practice that had been carried out historically in all previous nine elections. They were of the view that 70,000 extra ballot papers were printed in NA-53 where PML-N’s stalwart Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, lost against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate, Chaudhry Ghulam Sarwar Khan.
During the proceedings Pirzada confronted former Punjab Election Commissioner Mehboob Anwar to explain why 30,000 extra ballot papers were printed in NA-154 despite request of only 15,000 extra ballot papers by the concerned District Returning Officer. PTI Secretary General Jahangir Tareen had lost the elections from NA-154 and later challenged the result in Election Tribunal. According to documents of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) total number of registered voters in NA-154 was 370150 while 400600 ballot papers were printed for the constituency.
Similarly, PTI lawyer said in NA-22 where PML-N’s Captain ® Muhammad Safdar was contesting around 61,000 extra ballot papers were printed which is a 16% increase to the actual number of voters.
He said in NA-119 where Hamza Shahbaz Sharif was contesting elections, around 56,000 extra ballot papers were printed.
According to Pirzada NA-121, NA-92, NA-149, NA-130, NA-78, NA-121 and NA-118 were the constituencies where a large number of extra ballot papers were printed.
He said around two million extra ballot papers were printed in Bahawalpur, Sahiwal and Multan divisions alone. Similarly he said two million extra ballot papers were printed in Lahore and Gujranwala division.
At one point the Commission reprimanded Mehboob Anwar. “You are former Election Commissioner of Punjab but only sometime your memory works and other times it does not,” said member of the Commission Justice Amir Hani Muslim.
PTI chairman was jubilant after the proceedings. “Today a political party has proven its case through proper research and documentation. We have proven a pattern of rigging in 25 VIP constituencies,” he said.
When asked by this correspondent whether printing of extra ballot papers in a dozen constituencies can be ample proof of rigging, he alleged that returning officers ordered extra ballot papers to benefit some candidates.