KARACHI - The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which has emerged as the third biggest political force of Karachi by securing over 378,000 votes in the 25-July general elections, have announced staging protest against alleged rigging in the polls.

Earlier, the party had announced carrying out a rally from Hassan Square to Numaish on August 5 in the leadership of provincial leadership but now its chief Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi is coming to Karachi to lead the protest march on August 12.

The TLP had bagged a big chunk of votes from Karachi but could not convert the same into big victory as it did not win even a single out of 21 national assembly seats and secured only two of 44 provincial seats and that too with little margin.

The TLP leadership claimed that they had won at least eight national and 16 provincial seats from Karachi but their mandate was stolen through ‘massive rigging’, blaming the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for this.

The spokesman said it was decided in the TLP Karachi chapter meeting meeting that the party would record its protest in a ‘big power show’ in the leadership of Allama Rizvi on August 12.

Allama Ahmed Raza Amjadi who had contested from NA 245 said their protest against the rigging would prove to be a referendum against those who have awarded ‘artificial victory’. He added that even the PTI’s candidates from NA 245, PS 105 and PS 106 are amazed on their unexpected victory which was awarded to them ‘unlawfully’. “If they are not afraid of losing, they should resign and contest the by-elections in fair manner,” Amjadi challenged the PTI.

The TLP leader said that it was quite strange that his party did not get a single national assembly seat even after getting around 380,000 votes from the city.” The PTI leaders were decrying of rigging on the midnight of 25th and 26th July but eventually they declared winners from most of the constituencies,” he added.