F.P. Report
TIMERGARA: The Pakistan People Party Malakand division president and two-time former provincial minister Bakht Baidar Khan, a resident of Tanao Adenzai passed away at the age of 70 here on Friday. His sudden demise grieved the whole region because of his political stand and popularity.
Bakht Bedar Khan suffered a heart attack four days ago and was taken to a hospital in Islamabad. Later he was admitted to a private hospital in Peshawar where he breathed his last. The deceased was active in politics since his student life. He was elected a member of the district council once in 1979 and then in 1983. He led the PPP in his area and was elected as MPA in 1993 and remained provincial minister twice.
When the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao parted ways with the Pakistan People Party, Bakht Baidar Khan also joined him and became its general secretary. He was again elected as MPA on the QWP ticket in the 2013 general election and became a provincial minister for industries, commerce and labour in the PTI led coalition government. Later he was sacked by the PTI leadership over corruption charges but he challenged the case in the court and filed a defamation suit against the PTI chief Imran Khan. He again joined the PPP in May 2018 but lost the seat against the PTI Humayun Khan. The deceased also served as a caretaker minister for irrigation in 2008.
The PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto, co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and provincial president Najm ud Din Khan in their separate statements condoled the death of Bakht baidar Khan, sources in the party said. They termed his demise as a great loss to the party in Malakand division. Leaders of all the political parties in the region also expressed deep sorrows on his death and said the vacuum created by him would not be filled easily.
