Liaquat Khattak wanted his son to be given PTI ticket for Nowshera by-election

NOWSHERA: Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak's brother Liaquat Khattak wanted his son to be nominated as the PTI's candidate for the recently-held Nowshera elections, according to sources.

Sources confirmed Liaquat wanted his son, Ahad Khattak, to be given the party ticket for the Nowshera byelections but his elder brother and former KP chief minister Pervaiz Khattak opposed the move. The defence minister, according to sources, was of the view that the party's candidate for the by-elections should be Mian Omar, the son of Jamshed Ud Din Kakakhel who passed away due to the coronavirus last year in June.

Khattak was of the view that the Jamshed Ud Din family the right to the seat till 2023. Sources said that Liaquat Khattak's son Ahad campaigned for the PML-N candidate by uniting various factions of the PTI under a united platform. The move resulted in the PTI suffering an upset in the election and the PML-C candidate emerging as the victor.

Sources confirmed that Liaquat Khattak was removed as the provincial minister for irrigation after KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan held consultations with Pervez Khattak and Prime Minister Imran Khan. Media tried to contact Liaquat Khattak multiple times to get a statement from him. However, the former minister did not respond. According to a notification issued by the provincial government, the governor of KP removed Liaquat Khattak under clause 3 of Article 132. He was holding the portfolio of the minister for irrigation.

"Liaquat Khattak was removed for supporting PML-N candidate in [by poll]," Special Assistant to KP Chief Minister on Information Kamran Bangash had said. Bangash had claimed that CM Mahmood Khan removed Liaquat after carrying out an inquiry against him. The PTI lawmaker had won from the PK-64 Nowshera-IV seat in the 2018 General Elections after it was vacated by his elder brother (Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak).