ISLAMABAD: In his first comment after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's Aleem Khan lost the contest for the coveted NA-122 seat, party chairman Imran Khan has said that his party will counter the "rigging tactics by PML-N" that they "were not prepared for again."

On Sunday, PTI’s Abdul Aleem Khan lost the by-election in NA-122 to PML-N’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq however, PML-N candidate Mohsin Lateef was defeated by PTI’s Shoaib Siddiqui in PP-147 constituency, which falls within NA-122.

In a series of tweets posted Monday, Imran termed the outcome of by-elections a "moral victory for PTI" saying that this election would strengthen the PTI as it had challenged the PML-N with its government power.

The PTI chief went on to say that his party will "learn from our mistakes".

In a separate tweet, Imran said his party is investigating the number of "PTI votes thrown out of NA-122 at the last minute", adding that they will approach the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) after the probe.

While no major complaints of rule violations or rigging had been received, the commission said it had gotten around 35 smaller complaints in NA-122.

The PTI chief also congratulated Aleem Khan for "his hard work and persistence against two PML-N governmental machineries."

We accept the results, but with reservations: Sarwar

On Monday evening, PTI's candidate for NA-122, Aleem Khan, and leader Chaudhry Sarwar addressed a press conference, during which they said that the results of the by-election were acceptable to the PTI.

Chaudhry Sarwar addressing a press conference in Lahore on Monday. – DawnNews screengrab

However, Sarwar went on to say that the PML-N had violated campaign regulations, with provincial ministers and other personalities involved in the pre-poll campaign process, despite ECP's orders against such activities.

Sarwar said his party had received several complaints of irregularities during polling, adding that if any substantive evidence of rigging comes up, the PTI will lodge protests.

Imran should end politics of lies: Rasheed

—DawnNews screengrab

Meanwhile, Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has said that Imran Khan should quit 'the politics of lies' as the victory of PML-N in by-election of NA-122 proved the transparency of 2013 general election.

Talking to media personnel in Islamabad, Rasheed said that "making election results controversial is tantamount to maligning democratic institutions of Pakistan."

He said Imran Khan's demands to ensure transparency in the by-election were met, but even then the PML-N and PTI bagged the same number of votes as they did in 2013 general elections

Rasheed said Imran had been repeating for the past two and a half years that Ayaz Sadiq had stolen the seat through 50,000 fake votes.

According to Imran Khan's calculations, he said, Ayaz Sadiq should have received 20,000 votes in the by-election.

As per unofficial results, Sadiq secured 76,204 votes and his rival Aleem Khan 72,043 in NA-122.

PTI's Ashraf Khan Sohna managed only 7,000 votes in Okara and lost his deposit while the PML-N candidate bagged 41,000, the minister said.

Examine: Independent candidate wins in Okara

Imran Khan wasted two and a half years of the nation in the politics of baseless allegations, he said.

The PML-N had buried the hatchet between the two parties following the general elections but it was Imran who dug out the old rivalry and has kept it alive for the past two and a half years, Rasheed said.

There were 30 complaints filed with the ECP relating to by-elections in NA-122 Lahore, most of which were regarding the non-registration and absence of names from the voter's list, while complaints were also filed with Returning Officers regarding non-functioning CCTV cameras installed at the polling stations.