LAHORE - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday submitted a written application to the election tribunal member, requesting him not to connect decisions of petitions about alleged rigging in NA-122 and PP-147 of Lahore here on Wednesday.

Imran Khan, accompanied by senior party leaders, visited the office of the Punjab election commissioner and appeared before the tribunal. Later, talking to media persons, the PTI chief announced, “I will produce all proofs of the rigging happened in the last general elections at a press conference on Friday (tomorrow).” 

Imran said record of 60 polling stations out of a total of 115 was not found while the ballots found in the record were unverified. He also cited a report of inspection carried out by a commission in PP-147.

“Had I been in place of Nawaz Sharif, I would have ordered recounting and inspection of the whole election record,” said Khan, adding he would initiate criminal proceedings against returning officers of the 2013 elections for their role in the alleged rigging,”.

Answering a question, he stated he had full trust in Kazim Ali Malik, the member of the election tribunal. He urged the tribunal to decide the case of NA-122 at the earliest so that the people could know the reality behind the victory of Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

It is pertinent to mention here that tribunal member Kazim Ali Malik had reserved verdict on a petition of Shoaib Siddiqui of PTI who had challenged the victory of Mohsin Latif of PML-N from PP-147.

The tribunal, however, linked the announcement of the verdict with the decision of a pending petition of Imran Khan against the victory of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq from NA-122, Lahore.

PTI WARNS RULERS AGAINST POSING HURDLES

The ruling party would have to face the consequences if it tried to stop the re-launch of Azadi drive on November 30, warned PTI chief Imran Khan adding the venue for the sit-in in federal capital would not be changed.

Talking to media after attending the funeral of party’s founding leader Ahsan Rasheed on here Wednesday, Imran alleged that Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Khursheed Shah were corrupt to the core. He added that the Sharif family was plundering the country and they should tell the masses about the tax they pay against their sugar mills.

Imran claimed that he would make shocking revelations during his press conference on Friday (tomorrow). He said that the ruling party and his allies were preparing their siblings as next rulers of the country but the PTI would not let them play this game any longer, and the November 30 would end the game of dynastic politics.

The PTI chief said that he would willingly conduct an open inquiry if any rigging took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and what harm would come to the ruling elite if it opened the four constituencies in Punjab.

He alleged that Muhammad Zubair was making false statements against Jahangir Tareen just to hold the position of chairman privatisation commission. He claimed that he was making efforts for bringing a real change in the country.

On the occasion, he also paid tributes to the services of Ahsan Rasheed for the party and Shaukat Khanum Hospital. He said that Ahsan was a close friend and the party’s founding leader.

He said that Ahsan raised funds for Shaukat Khanum in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in 1997 when the PML-N government had launched a character assassination campaign against the project.

Prominent party leaders who attended the funeral include Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Tareen, Ijaz Chaudhry, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Dr Arif Alvi, Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, Hamid Khan, Hamid Zaman, Malik Amin Aslam Awan, Mehmood Awan, Afzal Sindhu, Raja Nadir Pervez, Idrees Taj, Shahnawaz Cheema, Umer Sarfraz Cheema, Rai Azizullah, Khalid Kharal, Akmal Cheema and others.

Fareed Ahmed Paracha from the Jamaat-e-Islami and Naveed Chaudhry from the PPP also attended the funeral.