Dawar Khan Kundi () is a Pakistani politician who was a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower legislative house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which also comprises the Senate of Pakistan (upp ...

from September 2013 to May 2018.

Early life and education

He was born into a politically active

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

family belonging to the Runwal village of

Tank District Tank District ( ps, ټانک ولسوالۍ, ur, '; skr, ') is a district in Dera Ismail Khan Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. The city of Tank is the capital of the district, which consists of Union Council City I and U ...

, his father Amanullah Khan Kundi, who passed away in 2023, having been a Islamic Jamhoori Ittehad and later a

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

politician who served as the provincial food minister, his brother Mustafa Khan Kundi being a former district nazim Tank while he has two other brothers, Dilawar Khan Kundi and Abdullah Khan Kundi. He has done his

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

from the

Gomal University Gomal University (Urdu: جامعہ گومل), is a public research university located in Dera Ismail Khan in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Founded and established in 1974, the university is one of the oldest institutions in the c ...

, Dera Ismail Khan, his M.Phil in

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

from the National Defence University, Islamabad and his Ph.D from the Area Study Centre for Africa, North and South America,

Quaid-i-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad ( ur, ; commonly referred to as QAU), founded as University of Islamabad, is a ranked 1 public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially d ...

, Islamabad.

Political career

Kundi ran for the National Assembly from NA-25 (D.I.Khan-cum-Tank) as a candidate of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

(PPP) in the 2002 Pakistani general election, but was unsuccessful. He received 31,976 votes and lost the seat to

Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman ( ur, مولانا فضلُرحمٰن; born 19 June 1953) is a Pakistani Islamic fundamentalist politician who is the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F). He is also the president of the Pakistan Democratic Movemen ...

, a candidate and the leader of

Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal The Muttahida Majlis–e–Amal (MMA; Urdu: , "United Council of Action") is a political alliance consisting of conservative, Islamist, religious, and far-right parties of Pakistan. Naeem Siddiqui (the founder of Tehreek e Islami) proposed su ...

(MMA). He ran for the same seat as a PPP candidate in the

2008 Pakistani general election 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

, but was unsuccessful once again, receiving 39,450 votes and losing the seat to

Atta-ur-Rehman Maulana Atta Ur Rehman (( ur, مولاناعطاالرحمن), born July 25, 1965) currently he is serving as Senator. He is also served as federal Minister of Tourism from 2008-2010 during PPP government. Currently he is Vice President JUI ...

, a candidate of MMA. Kundi ran for the same seat once more, this time as a candidate of

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

(PTI) in the

2013 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the 14th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties were the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) led by Nawaz Sharif, ...

but was unsuccessful. He received 47,543 votes and lost the seat to Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, who was contesting as a candidate of

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) also Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Urdu: ; ; JUI-F) is a Deobandi Sunni political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is the result of ...

(JUI-F). Fazal-ur-Rehman later vacated the seat in order to retain the seat he had won in his home constituency, NA-24 (D.I.Khan). Kundi finally won the constituency as a PTI candidate in the ensuing by-election held in September 2013. He received 64,218 votes and defeated

Asad Mehmood Asad Mehmood ( ur, ) is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. He is serving as the chairman of the standing committee of the National Assembly of Pakistan on Religious Affairs and I ...

, a candidate of

Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (F) Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan (Fazl) also Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) or simply as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Urdu: ; ; JUI-F) is a Deobandi Sunni political party in Pakistan. Established as the ''Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam'' in 1945, it is the result of ...

. In 2017, he was expelled from the PTI for violating the party's code of conduct, as he criticized the party's policies and select individuals such as Ali Amin Gandapur. He was the only MNA who voted against the constitutional amendment bill for FATA-KP merger in May 2018. He ran for the National Assembly from NA-37 Tank as an independent candidate in the

2018 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on Wednesday, 25 July 2018 to elect the members of 15th National Assembly and the four Provincial Assemblies. The three major parties Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, the Pakistan Musli ...

, but was unsuccessful. He received 13,567 votes and was defeated by Asad Mehmood, a candidate of MMA. On 12 March 2020, he joined the

Pakistan Muslim League (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...

(PML(N)) and was made the provincial senior vice president of the party. On 21 November 2023, he left the PML(N) and officially re-joined the PTI.

References

Living people Pashtun politicians Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf MNAs Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Year of birth missing (living people) {{Pakistan-MNA-stub Gomal University alumni National Defence University, Pakistan alumni Quaid-i-Azam University alumni