Liaqat Khattak de-notified as provincial irrigation minister

NOWSHERA: Liaqat Khattak became the first casualty of the Pakistan Terheek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s electoral defeat on the provincial assembly constituency PK-63 as he was de-notified as the provincial minister for irrigation.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman de-notified Liaqat Khattak as minister after receiving a summary from Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.

Liaqat Khattak and his son Ahad Khattak, who is a former tehsil nazim, were accused of supporting the rival candidate PML-N candidate Ikhtiar Wali, who with the support of the component parties of the 11-party opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) defeated the PTI nominee Mian Umar Kakakhel.

Prime Minister Imran Khan took strong exception to the defeat of the PTI candidate and sought a report from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. He is said to have expressed annoyance over the rift among PTI leaders in Nowshera.

A committee was also constituted to look into the causes of the PTI candidate’s defeat.

Liaqat Khattak had developed differences with his brother, Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak, over the award of the PTI ticket.

It was alleged that the supporters of Liaqat Khattak had resorted to festive airing after the victory of the PML-N candidate. The videos of the firing had been shared with Prime Minister Imran Khan and other PTI leaders.

This prompted the prime minister to ask the chief minister KP to remove Liaqat Khattak from the cabinet.

The PK-63 Nowshera had fallen vacant after the death of PTI lawmaker Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel due to Covid-19. The PTI had awarded the ticket to his son Mian Umar Kakakhel, but he failed to retain the seat.