Ahsan Iqbal

Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary is a Pakistani politician who currently serves as the Federal Minister of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives and Inter Provincial Coordination. He holds the position of Secretary General for the PMLN and has been a member of the National Assembly since 29 February 2024.

Early life and education

According to PILDAT, Chaudhary was born on 28 March 1959. However, The News International reported his birth date as 28 September 1958. He belongs to a Punjabi Rajput family that moved from Jalandhar due to the 1947 partition. His maternal grandfather, Chaudhry Abdul Rahman Khan, served as a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly during the British Raj.

His mother, Nisar Fatima, was a member of the National Assembly on reserved seats for women in 1985. Chaudhary received his early schooling at the PAF College Sargodha. He later attended the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, where he studied mechanical engineering. He graduated with a BSc in 1981.

In 1984, he enrolled at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He completed an MBA there in 1986. Dawn reported that his academic background also includes time at Government College Lahore, Georgetown University, and Harvard University.

Career

Chaudhary began his political journey as the president of the student union at the University of Engineering and Technology. During this period, he was associated with Islami Jamiat Tulaba, which is the student wing of Jamat-i-Islami. He entered the National Assembly for the first time in 1993 after winning the NA-117 constituency of Narowal. In that same year, he worked as a Policy and Public Affairs Assistant to the Prime Minister.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1997 when the PML-N secured a clear majority. During this term, he held several significant roles including Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan with the title of Minister of State. He also served as the chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Council and led the National Steering Committees on Information Technology and IQM and Productivity. According to Dawn, he initiated the formulation of Pakistan's first national IT policy.

Following the 1999 coup d'état, Chaudhary lost his seat in the 2002 general election. He taught management at Mohammad Ali Jinnah University in Islamabad from 2000 to 2007. He returned to the National Assembly in 2008 after winning his third term. In the Gillani ministry, he briefly held the portfolios of Minister for Education and Minister of Minorities' Affairs. He resigned from these positions six weeks later because the PML-N decided to sit on the opposition benches.

In 2013, Chaudhary was re-elected for a fourth time. He served as the Minister of Planning and Development and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. After the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2017, he was inducted into the cabinet of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. He held the role of Minister for Interior and received an additional charge as the Minister of Planning and Development on 16 September 2017.

He won his seat again in the 2018 general election from constituency NA-78. He secured 159,651 votes to defeat Abrar-ul-Haq. On 23 December 2019, he was arrested by the NAB regarding alleged corruption charges at a Narowal sports complex. He was released after 90 days when the NAB failed to present a case against him.

Chaudhary won his most recent seat in the 2024 general election from NA-76 Narowal-II. He received 137,042 votes and defeated Javaid Safdar Kahlon. In May 2018, he survived an assassination attempt at a political rally in Narowal. The attacker was linked to Tehreek-e-Labaik and confessed to the attempt during a police statement.

Personal life

His brother, Mustafa Kamal, has served as the chairman of the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA). Chaudhary also contributes to public discourse through writing. He has authored various op-eds for the English-language daily newspaper, The News International.

Awards and recognition

In February 2016, the United Nations Development Programme appointed Chaudhary as a 'champion minister' from the Asia Pacific region. This honor recognized his work in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals.