Punjab govt brazenly violated SC's orders, election rules to rig polls: Imran Khan

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday took to his Twitter account and accused the PML-led Punjab government of violating the orders of the Supreme Court of  Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan  (ECP)  by trying to "rig" the provincial by-polls.

The much-awaited by-elections for the   20 constituencies of the province were held today, starting at 8am today and coming to an end at 5pm amid reports of isolated clashes and arrests.

In his tweet, the former prime minister  highlighted the untoward incidents that took place throughout the day, and said that the provincial government resorted to using  "government and state machinery to rig the election, illegal ballot stamping, harassment of voters, and arrests of PTI leaders."

"Today Punjab govt has brazenly violated SC orders & election rules by openly using all govt/State machinery to rig Punjab elections through illegal ballot stamping & harassing voters while arresting PTI ldrs. Through it all ECP turned a blind eye. Courts must open now & act," he tweeted.

He further accused the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) of turning a blind eye to the incidents, and said the “courts must open now [and] act.”

What happened throughout the day?

Polling in 20 constituencies of Punjab, which started at 8am today, came to an end at 5pm amid reports of isolated clashes and arrests.

During the day, Punjab police arrested senior PTI leader Shahbaz Gill for allegedly visiting different polling booths with his security guards who were dressed as FC personnel.

Meanwhile, the ECP issued a notice to PTI Vice-President Shah Mehmood Qureshi for violating Article 56 of the Election Commission's code of conduct by visiting different polling stations, holding press briefings within the limits of the PP-217 Multan constituency, and launching an illegal raid along with supporters.

The ECP took notice of the fight in Lahore's PP-158 and ordered the district returning officer to review the situation in the constituency and contact security officials.

A scuffle broke out between the PTI and PML-N workers during the polling process in Lahore's constituency PP-158. As a result, one of the PML-N workers sustained a head injury.