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all 75 seats in Legislative Assembly 38 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 40.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held in the early months of 1962. [1] [2] Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. [3]
After the 1957 elections, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad failed to appoint any member of the G. M. Sadiq-led leftist faction to the Cabinet, leading Sadiq to form a rival Democratic National Conference party. However, in 1960, a reconciliation was brokered by the central government, and the two parties reunited. The reunited party contested the elections in 1962. [4] However, 20 candidates from the rump Democratic National Conference party contested the election. [2]
The other parties contesting the elections were the Jammu Praja Parishad, Praja Socialist Party and Harijan Mandal. [2]
The 1962 elections were the first elections in the state conducted by the Election Commission of India. The earlier elections were held by the State's Franchise Commissioner. [5]
Of the 43 constituencies in the Kashmir Valley, 32 were unopposed. Overall, the National Conference won 41 of the 43 seats in the Valley. [6]
In the Jammu Division, the National Conference won 27 of the 30 seats (two of which were unopposed). The remaining three seats went to the Praja Parishad. [7] [8]
In the Ladakh Division, all two seats were won by the National Conference. The Ladakh seat was won by the Head Llama Kushak Bakula. [9] [10]
After the elections, the Praja Parishad held a mass demonstration in the Jammu city, joined by the Praja Socialist Party and the Akali Dal, citing electoral malpractices. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad dismissed the complaints as "frivolous". [7]
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
| Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 486,060 | 66.96 | 70 | |
| Jammu Praja Parishad | 126,836 | 17.47 | 3 | |
| Others | 59,078 | 8.14 | 0 | |
| Independents | 53,892 | 7.42 | 2 | |
| Total | 725,866 | 100.00 | 75 | |
| Valid votes | 725,866 | 97.59 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 17,940 | 2.41 | ||
| Total votes | 743,806 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,843,930 | 40.34 | ||
| Source: ECI [11] | ||||
Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was increasingly seen in New Delhi as an embarrassment as he arranged most seats to be elected unopposed. In 1963, he was forced to step down, and Khwaja Shamsuddin was elected as the Chief Minister. Bakshi ensured that his rival G. M. Sadiq could not be appointed. The Shamsuddin government again excluded Sadiq his colleagues from Cabinet appointments. [7]
In December 1963, the pent-up anger of the populace erupted over a stolen religious relic from the Srinagar's Hazratbal Mosque. Even though the relic was subsequently recovered, the people did not trust the government and continued the agitation. In the fall-out, Shamsuddin lost his post, and G. M. Sadiq was appointed as the Chief Minister in February 1965. [12]
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The Jammu Praja Parishad was a political party active in the Jammu Division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. It was founded in November 1947 by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Balraj Madhok, and served as the main opposition party in the state. It maintained close ties with Bharatiya Jana Sangh during its lifetime and merged with the latter in 1963. Its main activity was to campaign for the close integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India and oppose the special status granted to the state under the Article 370 of the Indian constitution. After its merger with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party, the party gradually rose in stature. As an integral part of the Bharatiya Janata Party, it was a partner in the ruling coalition led by the People's Democratic Party.
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The first elections for the Legislative Assembly of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir under its own Constitution were held in March–June 1957. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
Elections for the Constituent Assembly of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held in September–October 1951. Sheikh Abdullah was appointed Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Following frictions with various groups such as the Jammu Praja Parishad agitation, Abdullah was dismissed in August 1953 and imprisoned. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was appointed as the next prime minister.
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