Former J&K Governor Satyapal Malik dies after prolonged illness

New Delhi: Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik died in the national capital on Tuesday after a prolonged illness.

The 79-year-old leader breathed his last at 1:10 pm at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, according to his personal secretary, K.S. Rana.

Satyapal Malik served as the last governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from August 2018 to October 2019. It was during his tenure that Article 370 was abrogated by the Central government, leading to the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories.

Inspired by the socialist ideology of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Malik entered politics in 1965–66. He made his legislative debut in 1974, winning the Baghpat Assembly seat on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket and was appointed the party’s Chief Whip in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly. His rising political profile led to his appointment as the All-India General Secretary of the newly formed Lok Dal in 1975. In 1980, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Lok Dal.

In 1984, Malik joined the Indian National Congress and was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1986. He also served as General Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee. However, disillusioned by the Bofors scandal, he resigned from both the Congress and the Rajya Sabha in 1987. That same year, he launched ‘Jan Morcha’, which later merged with the Janata Dal in 1988. During this time, he worked closely with former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh and played an active role in the Jan-Jagran movement. He held key roles in the Janata Dal as Secretary and Spokesperson from 1987 to 1991, and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Aligarh in 1989.

After a brief political hiatus, Malik joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2004 and contested from the Baghpat Lok Sabha seat. In the following years, he rose steadily within the party, serving as vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh BJP (2005–06), all-India in-charge of the BJP Kisan Morcha (2009), and later as national vice-president of the BJP in 2012. He played a key role in shaping the party’s agricultural manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and was reappointed as National Vice President the same year, during which he addressed several farmer rallies across the country.

In recognition of his long-standing contribution to public life, Malik was appointed the Governor of Bihar in 2017. A year later, on August 23, 2018, he was sworn in as Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.