Standing for election for the first time from NA 128, renowned lawyer and aspiring politician Salman Akram Raja took to social media site X (formerly known as Twitter) to share his thoughts on the election and his post election struggle.
I want to thank in humility the people of NA 128 who reached out in defiance and voted for Imran Khan and PTI on 8 Feb, 2024. I recieved with gratitude 159,024 votes. This was among the highest votes in the country & three times the votes polled by my nearest opponent. Thank you!
— salman akram raja (@salmanAraja) February 11, 2024
He went on to detail how he and his election agents were "forcibly evicted by the police at the behest of the Returning Officer from the premises where the consolidation of results received from 433 polling stations was being carried out." As per Raja, he described the action as a "patent violation of the law."
Raja also went on to share numbers which showed that some form of rigging had allegedly taken place.
Thereafter through the night fake polling station results were generated by the Returning Officer and a fake count was announced at 1pm on 9 Feb in which my votes were shown at 159,024 but my opponent was miraculously shown at 172,000.
— salman akram raja (@salmanAraja) February 11, 2024
Describing the whole post electoral process as "fraud at it's most grotesque" , he also wrote about how polling bags were being stuffed with bogus votes.
The fake votes added to the figure of total votes has resulted in a turnout of 56% whereas the turnout for the provincial constituencies that fall within NA 128 has been accepted at 39.5%. This is fraud at it's most grotesque. Now polling bags are being filled up with bogus votes
— salman akram raja (@salmanAraja) February 11, 2024
Yet despite it all, Raja continues to fight for what he stated as "social democracy that chooses ordinary people to work for ordinary people" paying tribute to the support he received: "The campaign in NA128 was the most beautiful event of my life. Katchi abadis, churches, imambargahs all received me with love & bestowed a trust that I will carry the rest of my days."