Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed

One of the veteran politicians of Pakistan, Sheikh Rasheed has been into electoral politics since 1985. He has been elected as a member of the National Assembly six times in a row from 1985 to 2002. He is often rebuked by opponents for switching allegiances from one party to another.

Rasheed was born on November 6, 1950 in Rawalpindi and obtained his early education in his hometown. He later graduated from the famous Gordon College and went on to study law in Lahore. Rasheed’s political career started during his student years when he became involved in activism against the regime of former military ruler Ayub Khan.

In 1985, he contested in the election held during Ziaul Haq’s regime and won from a seat in Rawalpindi. He continued winning from his hometown on various platforms — of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI), Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, Pakistan Muslim League – Quaid (PML-Q) and also as an independent — until he finally and the first time lost in the 2008 general election by a wide margin to a PML-N candidate. Ahmed said defeat in the election was due to raid on Lal Masjid and that “he had promised to quit politics after 2008 elections but his defeat had changed his mind.

During his political career, Rasheed served as a federal minister in several portfolios, including railways and information and broadcasting during the reign of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

In 2008, he left PML-Q in which he was a senior vice-president and created his own political party Awami Muslim League (Pakistan) and self-appointed himself as president of the party

He was among Musharraf’s few close aides who stood by the ex president during his campaign of military operations in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

In the 2013 general election, Rasheed’s party Awami Muslim League entered an electoral alliance with Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), pledging to support one another in the polls for Rawalpindi’s NA-55 and NA-56 seats.

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed – Age, Political Party and Education

Complete Name	Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad
Age	67 years
Born	November 6, 1950, Rawalpindi
Nationality	Pakistani
Previous office	Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan (2013–2018)
Office	Minister of Railways of Pakistan since 2018
Succeeded by	Ghulam Ahmad Bilour
Education	University of the Punjab (1982), Gordon College
Organization founded	Awami Muslim League