As senior minister in 15-member KP cabinet, Atif will look after tourism

PESHAWAR: As expected, Mohammad Atif Khan who was one of the top contenders for the office of chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been made a senior minister in the 15-member provincial cabinet announced on Sunday.

However, his portfolio of tourism isn’t one of the prized portfolios. Apparently, he got it on his choice as he wants to deliver in the tourism sector which has lot of untapped potential in the province. In the previous PTI-led coalition government installed after the 2013 general election, Atif Khan was the minister for education and power and energy. Atif Khan lost the race for the chief minister’s position when Imran Khan appointed Swat’s Mahmood Khan on the post.

Among the choicest portfolios, local government has gone to Shahram Khan Tarakai, who was previously the minister for health. Newcomer Taimoor Saleem Khan Jhagra from Peshawar has been given finance and another first-timer Dr Hisham Inamullah Khan from Lakki Marwat got health.

The portfolio of education hasn’t been given to any minister yet.Qalandar Khan Lodhi from Abbottabad has again been made minister for food. He was the food minister in the previous PTI government as well.

Syed Mohammad Ishtiaq Urmer has also got his previous portfolio of forest. Shakeel Ahmed Khan from Malakand district and Mohibullah Khan from Swat were promoted as ministers from their previous jobs as special assistants. Shakeel Ahmad will be minister of revenue and Mohibullah the minister of agriculture.

Another Swat MPA, Dr Amjad Ali, has been made minister for mineral development. In the previous cabinet he was a special assistant.Swat has got the lion’s share in the cabinet as the chief minister plus two ministers, Shakeel Ahmad and Mohibullah, belong to the district.

Charsadda’s Sultan Mohammad Khan, who had switched sides from the Aftab Sherpao-led Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) to the PTI before the July 25 general election, has been made minister of law. Abdul Karim from Swabi, who had also quit the QWP to join the PTI, has been appointed advisor to the chief minister of industries. He held the same portfolio in the previous cabinet.

Shah Mohammad Khan, who won from Bannu, has been made special assistant to the chief minister on transport. He held the same portfolio in the previous PTI cabinet. There are chances that he will be promoted to become a minister.

Kamran Khan Bangash, the young first-time MPA from Peshawar, has been appointed minister for information technology.

Ziaullah Bangash, who has again won his seat from Kohat, has been made advisor to the chief minister though his portfolio hasn’t been specified.Akhtar Ayub Khan from Haripur has also been appointed a minister, but he still hasn’t been given a portfolio.