In the elections, the NAP and Jamiat-ul Ulema-i-Islam (JUI) secured majority of seats in Balochistan. In less than a year, however, the government under Chief Minister Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal and governor Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, was dismissed by the federal government on the pretext, among several other charges, that it was receiving arms from foreign countries and preparing for rebellion or secession. The arms, allegedly meant for supply to Baloch separatists, were discovered in a raid on the Iraqi Embassy.

The news was carried by none other than Bugti, who was then siding with the federal government under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The next day, Bugti addressed a rally in Lahore against the intentions of the NAP-JUI alliance. His reward came soon — he was the next chief minister.

Bugti did not last long, though. Unhappy with the federal government’s implementation of policies in Balochistan, he resigned in 1974. General Rahimuddin Khan was appointed governor in 1978. The Baloch sardars were getting restive but Bugti remained silent.

In 1988, he joined the Balochistan National Alliance and was elected chief minister a year later. In 1990, Bugti resigned when the provincial assembly was dissolved by governor Muhammad Musa Khan under instructions from President Ghulam Ishaq Khan.

It was not so much Bugti’s principles but his authority and influence over his people that worried the government. In power or not, Bugti was believed to be running a parallel government with the potential to disturb the dispensation.