QUETTA, May 12: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal has rejected the results of the May 11 elections in various constituencies and urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the chief election commissioner to take notice of what it called rigging in favour of some political parties.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, BNP-M vice-president Sajid Tareen said the CEC should cancel the results and hold fresh polls in these constituencies, two of them in Quetta, because of ‘massive rigging’ in favour of two nationalist parties.

Accompanied by Akhtar Hussian Langov and Ahmed Nawaz Baloch, the BNP-M candidates for PB-4-Quetta and PB-5 Quetta, he said that despite its reservations and apprehensions, the party had decided to take part in the elections and enter into parliamentary politics instead of taking up arms for the rights of the Baloch people.

He said that although BNP-M leaders had expressed apprehensions about pre- and post-poll rigging at a meeting of its central committee, the party decided to contest the elections.

Mr Tareen said some elements had tried to harass leaders and workers of the party by hurling grenades and firing rockets at their homes, but the BNP-M refused to leave the field. “All these tactics were used to force the party out of the electoral process.” He alleged massive rigging in Khuzdar, Wadh, Gwadar, Turbat, Chagai, Noshki, Panjgur, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad and Quetta and said the results of BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal and other candidates were being delayed without any reason.

He said that in the two Quetta constituencies, polling staff had allowed the supporters of candidates of BNP-M’s rival parties to cast their votes till late night despite the end of polling time. He claimed that the BNP-M candidates were leading in the two constituencies but the results were changed overnight.

Mr Tareen said his party had decided to move court against the rigging and appealed to Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and CEC Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim to take notice of the matter.

He said the BNP-M would not compromise on the rights of the Baloch people and continue its struggle.

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