• Vows to expose names of officials involved in ‘rigging’, ‘kidnapping’ if govt fails to take action
• Urges SC ‘not to save sinking PTI ship’
• Hails grant of bail to Hamza, felicitates Cheema over Wazirabad victory
LAHORE/ GUJRAT: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz vice president Maryam Nawaz has for the first time named intelligence agencies working directly under the prime minister for their alleged role in ‘rigging’ and ‘kidnapping’ of presiding officers of 20 polling stations last week during the by-election in Daska.
“The agencies were being controlled from the Prime Minister House on polling day. We will expose the names of these officials if the government does not come clean and action is not taken against them,” said the PML-N leader in her interaction with journalists at her Jati Umra residence on Wednesday.
GUJRAT: The PML-N and JI leaders blamed police for foul play aimed at causing a low turnout of voters during the polling process in various areas of PP-51, Wazirabad, where by-poll was held on Friday.
Police also raided the houses of PML-N active workers early in the morning in various parts of the constituency and detained many of them. Few of them were later released after the senior party leaders lodged a strong protest against the police through social media posts.
Sohdra, a small town near Wazirabad, is known for being a stronghold of the PML-N and was the main target of the authorities as two former councillors belonging to the PML-N were picked up by the police from their houses in the wee hours of Friday after breaking into their houses. They were set free later in the day. Similarly, arrests were reported from other parts of the constituency.
GUJRAT: Wazirabad, the city of cutlery, wears elections colors as an army of political lieutenants from different parties have been working overtime on the streets and in adjoining rural areas of the town for over a week.
They are part of electioneering for the Feb 19 by-polls for PP-51, which will end late Feb 17. The seat was vacated after the death of PML-N MPA Shaukat Manzoor Cheema last year.
PML-N’s Talat Shaukat Cheema (widow of the former MPA), PTI’s Yousaf Araen, Jamaat-i-Islami’s Nasir Mehmood Kalair and TLP’s Sufi Nasir Jowinda are in the run for the seat.