During the nationwide 1970 Pakistani general elections, Khan decided to run on the Rawalpindi's constituencies, believing that the city's population would vote in appreciation of a retired air force general who is also close to the military establishment. However, Khan clearly lost the election to the less-known politician, Khurshid Hasan Mir of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP); the Tehrik-e-Istiqlal (TeI) generally lost the election without winning any seats for the National Assembly of Pakistan as the PPP had performed well to claim the exclusive mandate in the Four Provinces of Pakistan.