Fazl demands re-election in NA-45 Kurram

PESHAWAR: PDM chief Fazlur Rahman on Thursday rejected the outcome of the by-elections in the National Assembly constituencies NA-45 Kurram and NA-75 Daska and demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan to cancel these polls and hold them afresh.

“Massive rigging was made during the by-elections in both the constituencies. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate, who was in the third position in Kurram was brought to the first number,” the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief told a hurriedly-called press conference here.

About 600 fake votes were polled in Kurram tribal district, he said, adding the Election Commission had withheld the result, but it should cancel the polls and announce fresh elections in the constituency.

Regarding Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) support to the JUI-F candidate in NA-45 Kurram and Awami National Party’s (ANP) decision to field its nominee in PK-63 Nowshera against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) contestant, the PDM chief said that they were thankful to PPP for its support to his party in Kurram.

In Nowshera, he said, the ANP must have its own reasons for contesting the polls. “But they would definitely say that since PDM was not an electoral alliance, they had the right to contest the by-election,” the Maulana added.