Atif Khan among pioneer members of PTI in Mardan

MARDAN: Mohammad Atif Khan who is in the race for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister is among the pioneer members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

He belongs to a businessman and industrialist family of Par Hoti locality in Mardan city.

Born on May 21, 1972, he did his matriculation from the Nisar Shaheed College in Risalpur and the intermediate examination from Cadet College Kohat.

Atif Khan’s grandfather, late Haji Fazle Malik had started tobacco business in Mardan district in 1950 and later extended it to other provinces. His father Fazle Khaliq later ran his father’s business.

Atif Khan also remained the PTI president for the Peshawar region and was elected as central additional secretary general of the party. He contested his first election on PK-30-Mardan, currently known as PK-50, in 2013 and secured 16,985 votes and won.

Atif Khan served as Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education in Chief Minister Pervez Khattak’s cabinet for five years. He is the cousin of Shahram Khan Tarakai from Swabi district who was also a provincial minister in the previous government.

Atif Khan is a close relative of Pakistan People’s Party, former lawmaker Khanzada Khan and Awami National Party’s former MNA Naseemur Rehman.

He contested for the provincial constituency PK-50 in the July 25 general election. He got 25,807 votes and won the seat by defeating ANP’s Haroon Khan, PPP’s former federal minister Khwaja Mohammad Khan Hoti and MMA’s former MPA Tajul Amin Jabal.

Atif Khan also contested election against former chief minister and ANP provincial president Ameer Haider Hoti on NA-21. However Haider Hoti defeated him by a margin of 156 votes only.