Gandapur suffers major political blow as Atif, Sher Ali given key party positions

PESHAWAR: The beleaguered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, on Thursday suffered a serious political blow as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial president and Member National Assembly from the Malakand district Junaid Akbar Khan took a major decision by re-appointing MNA Mohammad Atif Khan as president and MNA Arbab Sher Ali as general secretary of the party for the important Peshawar region.

Junaid Akbar Khan reversed the decision of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who had removed PTI’s two senior leaders, Atif Khan and Sher Ali Arbab, from their party positions in August 2024. The Peshawar region comprises five central districts, also called the Peshawar valley, including Peshawar, Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan and Swabi.

Ali Amin Gandapur had appointed a former district nazim Peshawar, Mohammad Asim Khan as the party president of the Peshawar region. Former provincial minister Kamran Khan Bangash was the party general secretary of the Peshawar region and since he was popular among the party workers, apparently due to his hard work, he was asked to continue as general secretary.

Kamran Bangash was appointed as general secretary in 2023 and he faced tough time and was even made to lose an election due to struggle for the party during the difficult period, particularly after the May 9 violence in the country.

According to the party leadership, Kamran Bangash personally approached MNA Junaid Akbar and Atif Khan in February 2025 and requested them to relieve him from his responsibilities as general secretary and give this opportunity to another young party leader to utilise his skills and energy for the party in the region.

Junaid Akbar had agreed with Kamran Khan Bangash as he was stated to be a non-controversial figure in the party and widely respected for his hard work. Ali Amin Gandapur had also removed Arbab Sher Ali from his position as PTI Peshawar district president and replaced him with Irfan Saleem. And Junaid Akbar now appointed Arbab Sher Ali as general secretary of the party for the Peshawar region to work with Atif Khan.

According to senior PTI leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the party in the province was still suffering from internal differences, saying it was causing a serious damage to the PTI and its reputation. They said that Chief Minister Ali Amin suffered a political setback when he lost his position as president PTI in KP.

Well-placed sources told The News that Ali Amin Gandapur had earlier sensed what was happening in the party in KP against him. “The chief minister has been based in Islamabad for no obvious reasons for the past one week. For the first time he chaired the provincial cabinet meeting from Islamabad on video link and there is no indication how long he will stay in the federal capital,” a senior PTI leader told The News on condition of anonymity.

“Now there is a general consensus about him in the party that his prime objective to stay in Islamabad is to restrict the party leaders from meeting Imran Khan,” a senior party leader opined.

Efforts were made to seek comments of Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur but he was not available for comment. Atif Khan and Sher Ali Arbab were elected Members of the National Assembly from Mardan and Peshawar, respectively.