 "Former J&K governor Satyapal Malik passes away after prolonged illness. Image: X")
Former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik died on Tuesday at the age of 78 after a prolonged illness. He passed away at 1 pm today at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi, where he had been undergoing treatment.
Malik served as the last governor of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir before its bifurcation into two Union Territories in 2019. He also held gubernatorial posts in Bihar, Goa, and Meghalaya during his political career.
Satyapal Malik was the governor of Jammu and Kashmir when Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019, ending the state’s special status. Today marks six years since that decision.
After his stint in J&K, he served as governor of Goa and later Meghalaya, where he remained in office until October 2022. Earlier, he briefly held the post of Bihar governor in 2017.
Malik’s political journey began in the 1970s as a socialist. Over the decades, he moved through several parties, including Charan Singh’s Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Congress, and VP Singh’s Janata Dal, before joining the BJP in 2004.
He was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1974 from Baghpat on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket. He later became the General Secretary of the Lok Dal and was elected to the Rajya Sabha twice, from Uttar Pradesh in 1980 and 1989. His second term was as a Congress MP.