Satyapal Malik, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and veteran politician, has died. He was 79. He was suffering from kidney-related illnesses and was under treatment at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
A Jat leader from Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, Mr Malik began his political journey as a student leader and elected MLA of Chaudhary Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal in 1974. He served as a Rajya Sabha MP and later as Janata Dal’s Lok Sabha MP from Aligarh. In the approaching years, he switched to Congress, then Lok Dal, and then the Samajwadi Party.
Satyapal Malik dies due to kidney related disease
Mr Malik appointed the Governor of Bihar in 2017. In August 2018, he named the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, then a state. Mr Malik was the Governor when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special repute in 2019 and bifurcated it into Union Territories. He was also the Governor when the Pulwama terror attack claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel. Following his Jammu and Kashmir stint, Mr Malik served as Governor of Goa and Meghalaya.
Governor during times of Pulwana attack
Over the previous years, the veteran flesh presser has been in the news for his large allegations against the Modi government. The relationship between Satyapal Malik and the BJP government started souring around 2020-21 when the Jat leader backed the farmers protesting against now-scrapped farm laws.
But his most powerful words got here throughout an interview in 2023, when he flagged the lapses that caused the Pulwama attack and alleged that the Centre had requested him to keep silent. He also claimed that CRPF’s request for a plane turned down and the troops had been focused after they had been visiting by road. The BJP replied by sharing clips of Mr Malik praising the government and questioning his credibility.
Read also: 17,000 crore loan fraud allegations on Anil Ambani, Face ED Today