Staff Reporters
Gilgit/Islamabad
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is trying to rig the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan Election by distributing 100,00 flour bags in the region, claimed PPP candidates contesting the polls.
PPP’s Aftab Haider, who is contesting from GBLA-3 (Gilgit), and Captain (Retd) Shafiq Khan, the former opposition leader, approached the office of Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shehbaz Khan on Friday to file an official complaint.
The candidates tried to stop Khan outside his office but he told them that he will listen to their complaint later as he has to go offer his Friday prayers. He said that he placed a ban on the distribution of flour bags in the region Thursday night.
‘They are trying to rig the elections,’ claimed Haider. The government is trying to buy the votes of the people by distributing flour bags so close to the election day. ‘This is a political bribe.’
The complaint has been filed in response to PTI launching a drive to distribute flour bags among the people. Videos and pictures of vehicles carrying the wheat bags have been doing rounds on social media. The vehicles have been plastered with posters of PM Imran Khan.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr. Shahbaz Gill on Friday said that defeat in Gilgit-Baltistan election is evident on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders’ faces.
Reacting to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb’s statement, Dr. Shahbaz Gill said the narrative of rigging in polls was expected and Gilgit-Baltistan had already stamped on PML-N’s defeat.
He said PM Imran Khan never teamed up with umpires and it is shameful that allegations of injustice are leveled against the man who devoted his entire life for justice. ‘Fugitive’ Nawaz Sharif stole votes during his political career, he said.
The SAPM commented that PML-N is in panic and public has rejected those who lambasted the national institutions. People of Gilgit-Baltistan will never vote for anti-state elements and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will with the election, Dr. Shahbaz Gill added.
