Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Senior Minister for IT, Science and Technology, and Food Muhammad Atif Khan vows to support PM Imran Khan. Furthermore, he revealed that differences with some PTI members are over.
Taking to Twitter, Atif Khan shared the news while posting an old picture of his with Imran Khan. Interestingly, the development comes as counting for the last phase of KPK local body elections is underway. According to initial results, PTI leads in most areas.
“I am being approached by different people because I had some differences with a few persons in PTI which are over. I was with Imran Khan and I am with Imran Khan,” Atif Khan tweeted.
I am being approached by different people because I had some differences with a few persons in PTI which are over , i was with Imran khan and I am with Imran khan 👍 pic.twitter.com/Ba3IIRBzAK
— Atif Khan (@AtifKhanpti) March 31, 2022
Important to note, PTI had lost in the first phase of the local body elections despite KPK being a stronghold for the party. The defeat left PM Khan disappointed and he sought a report from the KPK government over the poor performance of PTI.
Read more: PM Khan still hopeful as he accepts defeat in KP LG polls?
According to details, the defeat was due to the distribution of party tickets to the wrong candidates. Minister Mohammad Atif Khan was also held responsible. As per sources, in the Mardan district, Atif Khan chose all the candidates, without consulting the party MNAs and MPAs. All the candidates were of weak political backgrounds and thus lost. PTI couldn’t win a single tehsil mayor seat in Mardan.
Intra-party differences
Furthermore, Minister Atif Khan is known to have differences with KPK Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. PM Khan has even intervened to resolve the issues between the two.
Before becoming a cabinet member last year, PM Khan invited both of them along with Governor Shah Farman to the PM’s House. As per reports who cited cabinet members, Atif Khan used to be very rude and critical of KPK CM Mahmood Khan in official meetings. However, the latter never responded and remained calm and cold.
Read more: Why did CM Mahmood Khan dismiss three key provincial ministers?
Pertinent to mention, in January 2020, KPK Governor Shah Farman had sacked Muhammad Atif Khan along with ministers Shahram Khan Tarakzai, and Shakeel Ahmad. At that time, Atif Khan was serving as the senior minister for sports, culture, and tourism. The Governor removed the ministers from the cabinet for their alleged attempt to remove Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.
However, the ousted ministers denied the allegations. In a TV show, the ministers said they never conspired against the CM. In fact, party members ignored them when they emphasized reform to improve governance. Muhammad Atif Khan even claimed that Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak was conspiring against him and does not want him to be a minister.
Important to note, Pervez Khattak fully supported the decision of dismissing the ministers. It is worth mentioning that both Pervez Khattak and Atif Khan were in running for the KPK Chief Minister position after the 2018 polls.
Read more: Why did CM Mahmood Khan dismiss three key provincial ministers?