Sir,
Apropos the news item ” From unopposed election in 50s to multi-corner contest now in J&K ” DE Oct 27, the information about the Prime Ministers of the Jammu & Kashmir State during the Dogra Rule is incomplete and confusing. For instance Sir Barjor J .Dalal was not the Prime Minister of the State from 1936 to 1943 but only for a few months during 1936. He was followed by Sir Gopalaswamy Ayyangar 1936-1943 , who after India attained freedom joined Nehru’s Cabinet. Similarly , Sir Benegal Narsing Rau who was the Prime Minister of the State from February 1944 to June 1945 also rose to a high position — India’s permanent representative to United Nations and also functioned as president of the Security Council for some time. Like Gopalaswamy Ayyangar no mention has been made also of Raja Hari Kishen Koul like Gopalaswamy who was appointed Prime Minister of the State by Maharaja Hari Singh after he sacked Wakefield in 1931 The following is the list of Prime Ministers of the state between January 1927 to March 1948
1 Jan.1927-Mar. 1929 Sir,Albion Banerjee
2 Mar. 1929-1931 G.E.C.Wakefield
3 1931- 1932 Hari Kishen Koul
4 1932- 1936 Elliot James Dowel Colvin
5 1936-1936 Sir Barjor J.Dalal
6 1936-1943 Sir Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
7 1943-1944 Kailash Nath Haksar
8 Feb.1944 June-1945 Sir Benegal Narsing Rau
9 June 1945-Aug.1947 Ram Chand Kak
10 Aug.1947-Oct. 1947 Janak Singh
11 Oct.1947-Mar.1948 Mehar Chand Mahajan
It may not be out of place to mention that Sheikh Abdullah was appointed as Chief of Administration of the State by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 27, 1947. The post of Chief of Administration was subsequently abolished and Sheikh Abdullah was made the Prime Minister of the State in March 1948
G.M.Bakshi had resigned under the Kamraj Plan in 1963 and was not removed following the disappearance of the Holy relic from Hazratbal Shrine as mentioned in the news item which happened during the tenure of Khawaja Shamus-ud- Din’s tenure as Prime Minister, long after Bakshi had given up the post Prime Minister.
Yours etc…
M M Munshi
Jammu
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