Prime Ministers of J&K

By
Daily Excelsior
-

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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