Islamabad, May 4 : A Pakistani election tribunal on Monday ordered Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique stripped of his post and ordered re-election in Lahore's NA-125 and PP-155 constituencies after irregularities on the seats were proven during the 2013 general elections.
The one-page verdict said the ballot bags had been opened with a sharp object and the records tampered with, reports Dawn.
In a press conference, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan termed the decision a result of his party's 126-day protest and constant struggle for transparency.
Rafique held a press conference soon after the order and said the decision to order re-election was against the presiding and residing officers of the constituency and that runner-up candidate Hamid Khan failed to prove rigging.
Hamid Khan's lawyer had also contended that Rafique paid one of the residing officers Pakistani Rs.20 million ($196,570) to rig the elections, to which Rafique responded: "I don't want to start a blame game but Imran Khan says a lot of lies. So, if Hamid Khan lies once, I shouldn't mind."
Rafique and Mian Naseer Ahmad, both of whom belonged to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had won the 2013 general elections from Lahore's NA-125 and PP-155 constituencies, respectively.
Rafique had secured 123,416 votes whereas his contender Hamid Khan had obtained 84,495 votes from NA-125 constituency.
Mian Naseer Ahmad had won the PP-155 election with 63,709 votes.
Earlier, PTI's Hamid Khan had challenged Rafique's victory, alleging that the PML-N candidate had rigged the elections, and a large number of bogus votes were cast in his favour.
