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Satya Pal Malik, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, died on Tuesday at the age of 79 after a prolonged illness. He passed away around 1 pm at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, where he was receiving treatment.
Malik served as the last Governor of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir from August 2018 to October 2019. His tenure saw the abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019, ending the region’s special status. Tuesday marked the sixth anniversary of that decision.
After Jammu and Kashmir, Malik was appointed as the Governor of Goa. He later served as the Governor of Meghalaya until October 2022. Before these roles, he briefly held the post of Governor of Bihar in 2017.
Who was Satya Pal Malik?
Born on 24 July 1946 in Hisawada village of Baghpat district in Uttar Pradesh, Malik came from a Jat family. He completed his B.Sc. and LLB degrees from Meerut University. His political journey began in 1968–69 when he was elected student union president at his university.
Malik entered active politics in 1974 when he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Baghpat as a candidate of Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal. He later joined the Bharatiya Lok Dal and served as General Secretary of the Lok Dal.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh twice, first in 1980 and then again in 1986, representing different parties. In 1989, he won a Lok Sabha seat from Aligarh on a Janata Dal ticket but lost the same seat in 1996 as a Samajwadi Party candidate. He later joined the BJP in 2004 and was named its national vice-president in 2012.
Throughout his career, Malik moved across political parties, from socialist outfits to Congress, Janata Dal, and finally the BJP. Known for his outspoken views, he often criticised the Centre on key issues.
Outspoken till the end, stirred controversy
In a 2023 interview, Malik accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NSA Ajit Doval of silencing him after the 2019 Pulwama attack.
He claimed that the CRPF had asked for aircraft to avoid moving large convoys by road, but the request was denied by the Home Ministry. He also said the car carrying 300 kg of RDX roamed undetected for days before the blast, calling it a major intelligence failure.
Malik started his political journey in the 1970s as a socialist. Over the decades, he moved across parties including Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Congress, and Janata Dal. He joined the BJP in 2004.
He entered the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1974 from Baghpat on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket. He later became General Secretary of the Lok Dal and was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in 1980 and again in 1989. His second term in the Upper House was as a Congress MP.
In 1987, he quit the Rajya Sabha and the Congress over the Bofors scam. He launched his own party, Jan Morcha, which merged with the Janata Dal in 1988.
In recent years, he was seen reaching out to his Jat and farmer base, hinting at continued political interest.
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