Pakistani politicians loyal to jailed former prime minister Imran Khan will forge an alliance with a little-known political group, his party said Monday, after polls marred by allegations of manipulation returned no clear winner.

Candidates backed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the most seats in this month’s election but were effectively sidelined because they were forced to stand as independents.

The army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) failed to secure a ruling majority but has forged a partnership with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and a handful of smaller parties to form the next government.

However, PTI still hopes to seek a majority by having its candidates join the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a registered political party whose chairman was the only one from the alliance of Islamic political and religious parties group to win a seat.

“We have reached a consensus that our provincial and national assembly candidates will join Sunni Ittehad Council,” PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan told a news conference.

Successful PTI-backed candidates will send their applications to join the SIC this week to the Election Commission of Pakistan, which must approve the alliance.

If the commission signs off on them, the alliance could then be entitled to seats reserved for women and religious minorities that are allocated according to election results.

“After this alliance, PTI will be in a position to form a government in the provinces as well as in the centre,” Omar Ayub Khan, PTI’s candidate for prime minister, told the news conference, referring to the National Assembly.

There have been widespread allegations of vote-rigging and result manipulation after authorities switched off Pakistan’s mobile phone network on election day and the count took more than 24 hours.

A senior bureaucrat announced at a news conference on Saturday that he had helped rig the February 8 election and would hand himself in to police.

“We converted the losers into winners, reversing margins of 70,000 votes in 13 national assembly seats,” said Liaqat Ali Chattha, commissioner of the garrison city of Rawalpindi where the powerful military has its headquarters.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a leading advocacy group, said after Chattha’s announcement that the “involvement of the state bureaucracy in rigging in Pakistan is beginning to be exposed”.

Imran Khan’s PTI held nationwide protests against the alleged rigging on Saturday.

A small number of supporters took to the streets in major urban centres, with the largest gathering of around 4,000 people in its stronghold northern city of Peshawar.

Police detained senior party member Salman Akram Raja and around a dozen supporters in the central city of Lahore, where they surrounded the party headquarters, but said they had all been released by late afternoon.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

 Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday accused the ruling BJP of trying to poach his party’s MLAs in Chhattisgarh by luring them with ministerial berths and tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekananda Airport, he claimed the BJP is resorting to such tactics as it anticipates defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, likely to be held in April-May.

Responding to a query, Mr Baghel said, “An MLA (of Congress) recently told me in Vidhan Sabha that they (BJP) approached him promising a Lok Sabha poll ticket and a ministerial berth if they retain power at the Centre. Such talks are going on continuously.” BJP leaders were not available for comment on Mr Baghel’s claim.

Recent political developments in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra clearly indicate the BJP is going to face defeat in the 2024 national elections. Therefore, it has been engineering divisions in other parties as it does not have confidence to face polls on its own strength, the former CM stated.

Mr Baghel, who was Chhattisgarh CM from 2018 to 2023, was ousted from office after the Congress lost the November Assembly polls to the BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Supreme Court will today examine the ballot papers of the Chandigarh mayoral poll and video recording of the counting process amid concerns over “horse-trading” and the contentious victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP’s Manoj Sonkar won the election with 16 votes, defeating the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar, who secured 12 votes. However, controversy erupted when the returning officer, Anil Masih, declared eight votes from the coalition partners as invalid, sparking accusations of ballot tampering. A video went viral showing Mr Masih – a member of the BJP’s minority cell – marking on ballots cast for AAP councilors. During a February 5 hearing, the Supreme Court denounced his actions as a blatant “mockery of democracy.”

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, expressed deep concern over the alleged “horse-trading” and decided to examine the ballot papers and video recording of the counting process. Rather than immediately ordering fresh polls, the court suggested considering the declaration of results based on the votes already cast.

The court also summoned the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to present the records in New Delhi today.

‘Serious Matter’

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Chandigarh administration, proposed the idea of holding a fresh election under the supervision of a judicial officer appointed by the High Court. However, the bench, after deliberation, leaned towards completing the electoral process from the stage before the declaration of results. The court suggested nominating a judicial officer to oversee the counting of the ballot papers and disregarding any defacement by the returning officer.

The focus then shifted to Anil Masih, who had been accused of defacing the ballot papers. The Chief Justice, for the first time in independent India’s history, cross-examined the returning officer, expressing displeasure over the way the election was conducted. The court sternly warned Masih about potential prosecution for his actions, calling it a serious violation of the democratic process.

“Mr Masih, I am asking you questions. If you don’t give truthful answers, you will be prosecuted. This is a serious matter. We have seen the video. What were you doing looking at the camera and putting cross marks on the ballot papers? Why were you putting the marks?” Chief Justice Chandrachud asked.

The AAP’s defeated mayoral candidate, Kuldeep Kumar, moved the Supreme Court challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to grant interim relief for a fresh poll. The Supreme Court then criticised the High Court for not passing any interim order.

New Returning Officer

Mr Masih, in a moment of admission, explained that the marks were intended to segregate defaced ballot papers. “Why did you deface the ballot papers? You only had to sign the papers. Where is it provided in the rules that you can put other marks on the ballot papers,” questioned Chief Justice Chandrachud.

Solicitor General Mehta found himself caught in the crossfire as the Chief Justice asserted, “Mr Solicitor, he (Mr Masih) has to be prosecuted. He is interfering with the election process.” 

“What we propose to do is this. We will direct the Deputy Commissioner to appoint a fresh returning officer, who is not aligned to any political party,” declared Chief Justice Chandrachud.

Solicitor General Mehta, drawing attention to allegedly torn or defaced ballot papers, sought the court’s intervention. However, Kuldeep Kumar’s lawyer contested this, claiming that only eight ballot papers required examination and were not torn. The Supreme Court then resolved to examine the contested papers today, demanding their presentation with adequate security.

“The process of horsetrading which is going on is a serious matter,” the Chief Justice said.

The Supreme Court reserved its judgment on whether to conduct fresh elections or validate the earlier votes.