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Friday March 29, 2024

TLP to protest today against alleged election rigging

After emerging as a new stakeholder in Karachi’s politics by winning two provincial assembly seats, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is ready to show its strength today (August 12) by organsiing a protest procession against alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.

By Zia Ur Rehman
August 12, 2018

After emerging as a new stakeholder in Karachi’s politics by winning two provincial assembly seats, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) is ready to show its strength today (August 12) by organsiing a protest procession against alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.

TLP chief Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi will lead the procession from Hasan Square to Mazar-e-Quaid and, to make it successful, the party has mobilised its regional organisations and put up banners across the city.

Mufti Ghulam Ghous Baghdadi, the TLP Sindh chief, said on Saturday that his group was not aiming at disturbing everyday life in the city today but it wanted to show its distrust of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Although the TLP has managed to win two provincial assembly seats from Lyari and Baldia Town neighbourhoods, its candidates finished runner-ups with hefty numbers of votes in several constituencies of Karachi.

More interestingly, the TLP candidate in Lyari won more votes than those polled by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in his party’s traditional constituency.

“Our candidates in the entire country, including Karachi, have been defeated through rigging in elections,” Baghdadi said.

The TLP is an electoral front of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLY) formed to run a campaign for the release of Mumtaz Qadri, who was convicted and executed in February 2016 for the murder of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer.

The TLP and its aggressive stance on blasphemy issues have attracted a significant number of likeminded people to the group. After succeeding in finding popularity among Barelvis, the group focused on Karachi’s electoral politics and became an influential stakeholder by fielding its candidates for all of the city’s national and provincial assembly constituencies.

The TLP has also decided to participate in by-elections to NA-243 and PS-87 seats. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan will vacate the NA-243 because of winning from several other constitenies, while the election in the other constituency was postponed because of the death of TLP candidate Sharif Ahmed Khan in a traffic accident.

The party has also claimed that it will surprise everyone with its results in the next local government polls.