MARDAN: Following the ouster of Mohammad Atif Khan, the senior provincial minister for sports, culture and tourism, from the provincial cabinet, lawmakers Abdus Salam Afridi and Iftikhar Ali Mashwani have become active to get ministerial portfolios, informed sources told Dawn on Sunday.

They said both the MPAs were approaching influential political figures within the party to get their support in their bid to be included in the cabinet.

Political experts believed Atif Khan along with Shehram Khan Tarakai and Shakeel Ahmad had lost their ministerial portfolios owing to differences with Chief Minister Mahmood Khan.

It is pertinent to mention here that there had been strong differences within the Mardan-based leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, and one of the groups was led by sacked minister Atif Khan.

However, the move to remove Atif Khan from the provincial cabinet caused a wave of jubilation among his political rivals, while on the other hand, his followers were deeply shocked.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2020