QUETTA: The Baloch­is­tan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has expressed the fear that some political parties may try to rig by-election in the National Assem­b­ly constituency NA-260.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, BNP-M information secretary Agha Hassan alleged that Baloch and Pakhtun nationalist parties, which are coalition partners of the provincial government, were using state machinery to help their candidate in the Quetta-Chagai by-election.

He added that his party had informed the Election Commission of Pakistan about the situation.

“In Balochistan, political parties with ideologies and democratic norms are being pushed to the wall and this won’t work well for the politics of the province,” he said. “In the elections, the public mandate should be respected.”

Meanwhile, the Mengal Qaumi Tehreek and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional announced their support for the BNP-M candidate.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2017