Prime Ministership
In 1948 during the Sheikh's absence from the State to represent India's case at the UN, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed took over as the Chief Administrator. In August 1953, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was dismissed and arrested, and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed became Prime Minister of the State and also President of the National Conference by majority vote of the State Cabinet. The famous Kashmir Conspiracy Case against Abdullah and others was started during his premiership.
Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed proved to be an able administrator and is remembered as the "Architect of Modern Kashmir" because of his constructive work in the State. He set Kashmir on the road to progress, gave a practical shape to the ideal of "Naya Kashmir", and earned fame and goodwill at home and outside Kashmir. He had a unique knack of establishing a direct rapport with people at grass-root level land gained tremendous popularity among people of all regions.
On the political front, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed had to face a stiff challenge from the Plebiscite Front which was formed in 1955 but he remained in the saddle with a tight grip over the state machinery. In May 1963 the Congress lost three important Parliamentary by-elections, including a "prestige" contest in which a Union Minister was defeated. Perturbed at the reverses, the AICC, under the Kamaraj plan, decided that some Congress Union Ministers and State Chief Ministers should resign and give all their time to party work. The final selection was left to Jawahar Lal Nehru. After eleven continuous years of Prime Ministership, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed was persuaded to offer just a token resignation in order to strengthen Nehru's hand even though he did not belong to the Congress party. In a move that typifies the strange relationship between Kashmir and New Delhi, his resignation was accepted along with those of five State Chief Ministers and six Union Ministers, for this had been a clever ploy on the part of Nehru to strengthen his own position and remove leaders who could oppose his daughter succeeding him as leader of the Congress party.
The eleven years of the Bakshi's Premiership have been the longest continuous stint by any Prime Minister or Chief Minister and are generally acknowledged as a period of stability in the State's post-independence history. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed had steadfastly resisted any attempt to undermine Jammu and Kashmir's special status within the Union of India.
Read more about this topic: Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad
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