Shaikh Rasheed Ahmad - Political Career

Political Career

His political career began on the village platform where he would try to garner support from the local population alongside other speakers. Sheikh Rashid and his contemporaries would often fail at this attempt and it has been said that they were not well liked in the villages for not understanding the basic problems.

Later, he became the leader of Opposition in the Municipal Corporation Rawalpindi. He was first elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1985 general elections as an independent candidate and joined Pakistan Muslim League a. He was subsequently re-elected MNA for six times. During October 2002 elections he was elected from two seats as an independent candidate but lost one seat where he tried to get his nephew re-elect in by elections. As an independent candidate he promised to the voters that after winning election he will leave both seats in the hands of Nawaz Sharif but later joined PML(Q) and became the supporter of General Pervez Musharraf. This was the reason his nephew lost by election. Although he has been elected MNAs six times but lost last two elections consecutively. The constituency is historically a stronghold of Pakistan Muslim League and in last by elections Nawaz Sharif issued parliamentary ticket to a poor unknown worker who defeated him with huge vote margin.

He used to be the right-hand man of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but Nawaz Sharif left him and then he joined the newly formed Muslim League, earning himself the nickname Lota of Rawalpindi (political chameleon of Rawalpindi). He is merely popular in Rawalpindi and is known for creating a large number of schools in that city. He is famous for his "awami style" (public style) of politics. He is one of few politicians who started their political career at grass roots level and rose to prominence. He has spent overall five years in solitary confinement for the cause of democracy. He was awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment in Kalashnikov case and spent two years in New Central Jail Bahawalpur.

On October 2, 2007 Gen. Pervez Musharraf named Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, as vice chief of the army starting October 8. If Musharraf wins the presidency and resigns his military post, Kayani will be army chief. Meanwhile, Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stated that officials agreed to grant Benazir Bhutto amnesty versus pending corruption charges.

In the February 2008 general elections, Sheikh Rashid lost both of his Rawalpindi constituencies, NA-55 and NA-56. After his defeat, there were rumors that Sheikh Rashid had fled to Spain, however, these allegations were later discovered to be false. In June 2008, he announced formation of new political party, Awami Muslim League.

During his career, He has served as Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower, Information, Industries, Sports, Culture, and Tourism and Investment. He was appointed Federal Minister for Railways in May 2006 and served in that capacity until 2008. His contemporary politics is as a staunch supporter of "enlightened moderation". On 14th August,2012 Sheikh Rasheed and Imran Khan decided to take part in elections by seat adjustment with each other.

Following a seat adjustment with Imran Khan in Rawalpindi, Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad snatched his traditional NA-55 seat from the hands of the PML-N. As a result he was elected to the National Assembly for a record 8th time. It should be noted that Rawalpindi is seen as the hub of the PML-N party who sweeped the 2013 elections in Punjab. Sheikh Rasheed however bagged 90,000 from Rawalpindi while his opponent could only bag around 22,000 votes. This proved the strength of Sheikh Rasheed in his home town and the trust of the people of Rawalpindi on him. Sheikh Rasheed remarked that the people of Rawalpindi had revindicated him after failing to elect him in the 2008 elections. Sheikh Rasheed promised to continue the development works in the area he had left behind before 2008.