Islamabad, Jan 18 (PTI) Pakistan's ex-premier Imran Khan on Wednesday hit out at the Pakistan Peoples Party for showing "no commitment" to transparent polls in the local elections in the Sindh province, saying such manipulations would only cause more polarisation and anarchy.

The second phase of the local government elections was held in 16 districts of Sindh on Sunday. The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has emerged as the major gainer, grabbing the most seats in Karachi and securing a thumping majority in the Hyderabad division.

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In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Khan said that the recent reports regarding the polls had made it apparent that the PPP had “no commitment to fair and free elections”.

He said that instead of holding transparent elections, the PPP "uses force, blackmail, police harassment and money to get votes".

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He questioned the unusual delay in the poll results and blamed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for mismanagement.

"Electronic Voting Machines allow for transparency & immediate results so prevent rigging - engineering of results. Right now results of LG elections which shd have come out within a few hours at most were coming out in a staggering delay some for days, allowing for massive foul play," Khan tweeted.

"If this is the sort of elections ECP, the State & Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) want, then the stability that elections are meant to bring will not happen. Instead, such manipulated elections will only cause more agitation, polarisation & anarchy," said the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

ECP spokeswoman Quratul Ain Fatima said in a statement on Tuesday the accusations over delayed results were also “unfounded and based on ignorance”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

“The Election Commission wants to make it clear that there was no delay in the results of the elections,” she said, adding that it took three days to compile the results in the 2015 local government elections, the report said.

She stressed that it would be inappropriate to compare the local body elections with the general elections.

Khan, 70, was ousted from power in April last year through a vote of no-confidence.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)