Govt trying to rig by-polls: Qureshi

MULTAN: Pakistan Tehreek Insaf vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi Friday said the government was taking all possible measures to engineer by-polls.

Talking to journalists after former federal minister Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi announced backing PTI candidate Zain Qureshi in PP-217, Qureshi said if an attempt was made to change the result through rigging, the journey of the ballot would end. “The administrative machinery is being used as much as possible, but if this happens on the polling day, the reputation of the Election Commission of Pakistan will be damaged. I know an imported personality is staying in Multan and we are also aware of his foul language,” he added.

He said he had provided the evidence of malpractices to the Election Commission of Pakistan and they also took action. “If by-polls are rigged, then the integrity of the country will suffer,” he warned. He claimed that workers of Saifuddin Khosa had been picked up in Dera Ghazi Khan on Thursday after Imran Khan’s meeting.

“We have written pointed out violations of the rules. There are many problems in the voter list and it is the Election Commission's responsibility to fix them. The reduction in the prices of petroleum products is an attempt to allay the anger of the people but it would not work,” he maintained.

“What is Abid Sher Ali’s connection with Multan? What has he been doing in Multan for the past one and a half months? He was directly sent from London to Multan to handle the election. Abid Sher is a mischievous person but we want peaceful elections,” he maintained. Qureshi said there were confirmed reports that workers of a factory located near the PMLN meeting venue were forced to participate in the meeting.