PTI’s Ali Amin Gandapur said on Wednesday that he will resign from his role as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister shortly after the party’s general secretary, Salman Akram Raja, confirmed that party founder Imran Khan directed Sohail Afridi to assume the role of provincial chief executive.

At just 35, Afridi has emerged as one of the most prominent young faces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s political paradigm. Representing PK-70 Bara for the first time as an MPA, Afridi’s political struggle reflects a steady rise from student activism to a cabinet position.

Born in 1989 in Khyber district’s Bara tehsil, Afridi’s roots lie deep in the tribal heartland, an area that has seen immense transformation in recent years. A graduate in economics, his early years were marked by his involvement in student politics — a platform that paved the way for his future in provincial governance.

Afridi served as the provincial president of the Insaf Students Federation (ISF), the student wing of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), where he gained recognition for mobilising youth and advocating for educational reforms. His tenure in the ISF helped him establish a grassroots political base, particularly among first-time voters and students.

Elected to the KP Assembly from PK-70 Bara in 2024, Afridi made his legislative debut with a strong mandate from his native constituency. Later that year, he was inducted into the provincial cabinet as special assistant to the chief minister on communications, a role in which he contributed to the province’s connectivity and infrastructure agenda.

Irfan Saleem, PTI’s additional general secretary and the party president in Peshawar, told Dawn.com that Afridi has been a party loyalist since student life, adding that whenever Imran Khan made a call for protest, he stood in the front row.

“He saw hardship and jails for the party,“ Saleem said. “We expect that he will take Imran Khan’s cause ahead.“

“When there were drone attacks, the Bara Khyber incident or other issues, he raised his voice,” he added. “He knows the party well and will handle it to end polarisation.”

Another PTI leader in KP, Deputy Information Secretary and social media head Ikram Katahna, told Dawn.com, “We welcome this decision as we stand with Khan and his decisions.”

Katahna added that Afridi is a grassroots worker and “a common man like us and he came to this stage”.

“The PTI is a party of common people and Sohail Afridi’s nomination proves it,” he added.

Correction: This story previously incorrectly stated that Sohail Afridi was elevated to the post of provincial minister for higher education. The error is regretted and has been corrected.