The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday sought deployment of Pakistan Army outside the polling stations in five sensitive constituencies of Lahore and Multan to prevent any untoward incident during the upcoming by-elections. Army should be deployed outside polling stations in four constituencies in Lahore, one in Multan, the ECP said in a letter written to Interior Ministry. Earlier, it was agreed to deploy Rangers, but according to recent reports, the threat of unrest and violence has increased, said the letter written by the ECP. The ECP sought enhancing the deployment of Quick Response Force (QRF) and frequent flag marches to cope with any eventuality. These steps were necessary as the present atmosphere in the 20 Punjab constituencies was politically-charged.
