New Delhi, Jul 14 (KNO): In a significant move, the President of India on Monday appointed Kavinder Gupta, former deputy chief minister of J&K, as new Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Union Territory.
Gupta, a former deputy CM of J&K, was deputy CM in Mehooba Mufti-led government, which collapsed in June 2018 following withdrawal of support to it by BJP, citing deteriorating security situation in the erstwhile state.
Gupta has become the first politician to hold the position of LG Ladakh. Until now, Ladakh UT has been administered by non-political appointees- Radha Krishna Mathur (a retired IAS officer) and Brigadier (Dr.) B. D. Mishra (an Army veteran).
According to an official communique, a copy of which is in possession of news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the President of India has been appointed Kavinder Gupta as Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
The President also accepted the resignation of Brig. (Dr.) B. D. Mishra (Retd.) as Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Ladakh.
Gupta, a BJP leader, was elected mayor of the city of Jammu for a record three consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2010.
In the 2014 Assembly election, Gupta contested and was elected a Member of Legislative Assembly from the Gandhinagar constituency. He defeated Raman Bhalla of Congress. On March 19, 2015, Gupta was elected speaker of the assembly.
On April 30, 2018, he was appointed as the deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir State—(KNO)