Akhtar Ali Vario

Akhtar Ali Vario was a Pakistani politician and head of the Vario family of Sialkot District, Punjab province. He served as chairman and member of Sialkot district council between 1979-1985 and was elected as a Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) from PP-143 Sialkot in the 1985 elections. He was re-elected in 1988 as a representative of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad from PP-104 Sialkot and was given portfolio of Minister of Communication and Works by the Chief Minister, Nawaz Sharif. He was elected for a third consecutive term in the 1990 elections from PP-106 Sialkot.
Vario contested for a seat in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the 1993 elections. He was elected as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-86 Sialkot by defeating Ameer Hussain, a former Speaker of the National Assembly, from Pakistan Muslim League (J). His brother, Abdul Sattar Vario, won a second term as MNA from NA-88 in the same elections.
In the same polls his son, Khush Akhtar Subhani, became MPA from PP-104 and was awarded the ministries of Population Welfare and Prisons, Housing & Physical Planning and Environmental Planning in Watto's ministry. His brother was made Federal Minister of Science and Technology, and his nephew, Armughan Subhani, a son of Sattar, was also elected MPA from PP-106.
He later joined with the Chauhdari brothers of PML-Q and played important roles in the successes of their candidates in the 2001 LB polls, in which they gained 61 UC Nazim slots from a possible 124 seats.
He was imprisoned during 2002-20033 by the National Accountability Bureau, who accused him of corruption charges, but was acquitted by Lahore High Court, which deemed the case against him not to be strong enough.
Vario died, aged 76, at the Services Institute of Medical Sciences on 16 June 2008 after being in a coma for five days. He had suffered from diabetes and heart disease. He was buried on 17 June in his native village of Vario Sialkot.