QuyenStobie2 at 14:09, 12 January 2025

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{{Short description|State election in India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1957 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
| country = Jammu and Kashmir (state)
| type = parliamentary
| previous_election = 1951 Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly election
| previous_year = 1951
| previous_mps =
| election_date = 24 February – 25 March 1957
| next_election = 1962 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
| next_year = 1962
| seats_for_election = all 75 seats in [[Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]]
| majority_seats = 38
| opinion_polls =
| turnout = 60-70%{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=230}}

| image1 = Flag of Jammu and Kashmir (1936-1953).svg
| image1_size = 100x90px
| party1 = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
| leader1 = [[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad]]
| leader_since1 =
| leaders_seat1 =
| last_election1 = 75
| seats1 = 68
| seat_change1 = {{decrease}} 7

| image2 =
| party2 = [[Jammu Praja Parishad|Praja Parishad]]
| leader2 =
| leader_since2 =
| leaders_seat2 =
| last_election2 = 0
| seats2 = 5
| seat_change2 = {{increase}} 5

| image4 =
| leader4 =
| party4 = Harijan Mandal
| leader_since4 =
| leaders_seat4 =
| last_election4 = 0
| seats4 = 1
| seat_change4 = {{increase}} 1

| before_election = [[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad]]
| before_party = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
| title = Prime Minister
| after_election = [[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad]]
| after_party = Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
}}

The first ''' elections for the [[Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir|Legislative Assembly]]''' of the Indian state of '''[[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]''' under its own [[Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir|Constitution]] were held in March–June 1957.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=229}} [[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad]] was appointed Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

==Background==
The [[Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir]], elected in 1951, which also functioned as the State's legislative assembly during its term of 6 years, dissolved itself in January 1957 having passed the State's Constitution.

Before that, in 1953, [[Sheikh Abdullah]] was dismissed as the Prime Minister by the ''Sadar-i-Riyasat'' [[Karan Singh]] because he had lost the majority in the Cabinet. The former deputy prime minister [[Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad]] was appointed in his place. Sheikh Abdullah, along with [[Mirza Afzal Beg]] and thirty-three other loyalists, was imprisoned by the incoming government.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=208}}

After Mirza Afzal Beg was released in November 1954, he, along with G. M. Hamdani, formed the [[All Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front]], demanding self-determination for Kashmiris through a plebiscite organized under [[UNMOGIP|United Nations supervision]]. The Plebiscite Front counted seven sitting legislators among its members. Other parties joined them in support: the [[Kashmir Political Conference]], the [[Kashmir Democratic Union]] and the [[Praja Socialist Party]].{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=227}}

In 1955, the left-wing faction of the ruling [[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference]], led by [[G. M. Sadiq]], fell out with the leadership and resigned from the party's Working Committee. Sadiq had a volley of complaints against the party leadership, ranging from manhandling by the party's gangs, corruption, to authoritarian and unprincipled leadership. He also complained about the nomination procedures for the upcoming Legislative Assembly election.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=228}}

==The election==
The election was conducted by the State's Franchise Commission. Voting was scheduled in the [[Jammu Division]] on 25 March and in the [[Kashmir Valley]] on 30 March. Because of snow-bound conditions, the voting for 7 other seats was held in May. The final results were announced on 3 June.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=229}}

Of the 75 seats of the Legislative Assembly, 43 seats were allocated to the Kashmir Valley, 30 to Jammu, and 2 to Ladakh.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|p=75}}
The election irregularities first witnessed in the [[1951 Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly election|Constituent Assembly elections]] in 1951 continued. Scholar [[Sumantra Bose]] states that the franchise official in charge of deciding the validity of nomination papers was a henchman of Prime Minister Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad.{{sfn|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003|p=75}} In the Valley, elections in 30 seats were unopposed, resulting in wins for the National Conference; an additional 10 seats were declared unopposed after the rejection of the nomination papers of the opposing candidates. Three of these candidates were rejected on the grounds of being under the qualifying age, six due to improper nomination papers, and one on the grounds of being a government contractor.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=229}} On the whole, the National Conference acquired a majority in the Assembly even before the voting began.

Of the 28 remaining seats that witnessed voting in March, 20 were in Jammu and 8 in the Kashmir Valley. The [[Jammu Praja Parishad]] put forward 17 candidates, the [[Praja Socialist Party]] 8 candidates, and the [[Harijan Mandal]] 6 candidates. The Plebiscite Front and the Kashmir Political Conference boycotted the election.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=229}}

==Results==
In the Jammu Division, the National Conference won 13 of the 20 seats, the Praja Parishad won 6 seats, and the Harijan Mandal won 1 seat. The voting was heavy, with over 70 percent of voters casting their votes. One of the Praja Parishad electees later joined the National Conference, reducing its strength in the Assembly to 5.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=229-230}}

In the Kashmir Valley, the National Conference won 7 of the 8 contested seats, and one seat was won by a dissident of the National Conference contesting as an independent.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=230}}

Scholar Jyoti Bhusan Das Gupta attributes the victory of the National Conference in the Jammu Division to the conciliatory gestures of the Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, which were in marked contrast to Sheikh Abdullah's hard-line attitude.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=229-230}} James Roach points out that Bakshi's National Conference firmly stood for the State's accession to India. It also capitalized on the economic and social advances that the party had implemented.<ref>{{cite journal |first=James R. |last=Roach |title=India's 1957 Elections |journal=Far Eastern Survey |volume=26 |number=5 |date=May 1957 |pages=65–78 |jstor=3024537 |doi=10.2307/3024537}}</ref>

==Government formation==
Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was reappointed as the Prime Minister in July 1957. Shyam Lal Saraf was reappointed as a Cabinet Minister along with five new appointees: Din Nath Mahajan, Mir Ghulam Mohammed Rajpuri, Kotwal Chuni Lal, and [[Khwaja Shamsuddin]].{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=230}}

The members of the leftist faction of the National Conference: [[G. M. Sadiq]], [[Girdhari Lal Dogra]], [[Mir Qasim]] and [[D. P. Dhar]] was excluded from the Cabinet. It has been reported, however, that Sadiq and Dogra were offered Cabinet posts, but they declined.{{sfn|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012|p=230}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Bose |first=Sumantra |author-link=Sumantra Bose |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ACMe9WBdNAC |title=Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2003 |isbn=9780674011731 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1p6hp3k |jstor=j.ctv1p6hp3k |ref={{sfnref|Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace|2003}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Das Gupta |first=Jyoti Bhusan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dpTpCAAAQBAJ |title=Jammu and Kashmir |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-011-9231-6 |doi=10.1007/978-94-011-9231-6 |ref={{sfnref|Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir|2012}} |orig-year=first published 1968}}

{{Jammu and Kashmir elections}}

[[Category:1957 State Assembly elections in India|Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category: State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir|1957]]
[[Category:1950s in Jammu and Kashmir|1957]]

1957 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election - Revision history

QuyenStobie2 at 14:09, 12 January 2025