MANSE HRA, Oct 26: Former federal minister and central senior vice president of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Azam Khan Swati on Saturday said the recent disqualification of PML-N MPA Mian Ziaur Rehman by the election tribunal in Abbottabad was an eye-opener for those not accepting rigging and other irregularities in the May 11 general elections in the country.

Talking to reporters at the Mansehra Press Club, Mr Swati said more than 30,000 fake votes were polled in his constituency, NA-20, during the elections and that he had deposited fee to the Election Commission for the verification of thumb impressions of those, who cast vote.

`I have deposited money with the Election Commission for verification of thumb impression of at least 30,000 voters and that will reveal the truth about the electoral process not only in Mansehra but also in entire country. In Karachi, we have already seen that more than 70 per cent of the votes polled in a National Assembly constituen-cy were fake,` he said.

The PTI leader said in NA-20, a total of 437,000 votes were registered in the constituency and 158,000 were polled in the 2008 elections and after census, the total number of registered vote dropped to 415,000 and 221,000 votes were polled in the elections.

`All that happened due to rigging, he said.

Mr Swati said his party would nominate a suitable candidate for PK-54 fallen vacant after the disqualification of the PML-N member.

He said he thought that Mr Rehman would not move the court as his degree was fake and if he did so and it was proven guilty there too, then he would be put behind bars.

The PTI leader said his party had been supporting the federal government in its efforts to eliminate terrorism from the country.

`We (PTI) stand by Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif on counterterrorism and will unconditionally support his steps on it,` he said.Mr Swati said it would be premature to say whether the government had begun peace dialogue with the Taliban but he was optimistic that both parties would show flexibility in dialogue.

`Nobody can deny that until core issue of terrorism is addressed, the country can`t progress and meet challenges, including energy crisis,` he said.

He said because of the corruption in Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, hundreds of reconstruction schemes had been abandoned in five affected districts.

The PTI leader said the provincial government had approved Rs50 million for a block of Hazara University, which was left by a Turkish construction company incomplete.

He said Chief Minister Pervez Khattak would visit Mansehra on November 3 and announce a big development package for the residents of the district.

PTI leaders Babar Saleem Khan, Niaz Sarkhali and Basharat Ali were also present on the occasion.