Sardar Rashid rose to become the Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, but resigned from the police service on April 23, 1953 when he was appointed as the 8th Chief Minister of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. His nomination was controversial in that he was handpicked by his predecessor Abdul Qayyum Khan. However, he proved to be a popular choice, and in November 1953 he was elected as the provincial president of the Muslim League despite the efforts of Abdul Qayyum Khan to retain the post for himself following his elevation to the Central Government.