Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar Saturday challenged Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif’s victory from NA-73 Sialkot-II during the July 25 general election.
In his petition submitted to the election tribunal, Dar stated that Kh Asif submitted an unverified affidavit along with his nomination papers and hid details of his assets. He pleaded that the staff of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) failed to implement the Election Act 2017. He claimed that polling bags from 53 polling stations in the constituency were submitted a day after the general election and that re-counting should have been ordered owing to a difference of 1,406 votes only. During the July 25 polls, Asif had secured 116,957 votes while Dar bagged 115,464 votes from the NA-73 constituency. Dar had requested a recount in the constituency following the result but Kh Asif received 45 more votes after the recount.
Published in Daily Times, September 23rd 2018.
