New Delhi: Satyapal Malik, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and several other states, died from kidney-related ailments. He was 79.
The veteran politician breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, NDTV reported.
The Jat leader from Uttar Pradesh's Baghpat emerged as a student activist before being elected as MLA of Chaudhary Charan Singh's Bharatiya Kranti Dal in 1974.
After serving as a Rajya Sabha MP, Malik later became Janata Dal's Lok Sabha MP for Aligarh.
Over the years he switched sides ending up first in Congress, the Lok Dal and then in Samajwadi Party.
When he became the Governor of Bihar in 2017, Malik was later given additional charge of Odisha.
A year later in 2018, he was appointed as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir when it was a state.
When the Centre controversially revoked the state’s special status in 2019 and bifurcated it into two Union Territories, Malik was the Governor.
The Pulwama attack that claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel took place during his tenure.
After his Jammu and Kashmir stint, Malik became the Governor of Goa and Meghalaya.
The relationship between Malik and the BJP government soured in 2020-21 when he backed farmers protesting against Farm Bills.
During an interview in 2023, Malik alleged that lapses led to Pulwama attack, alongside claiming that the Centre directed to him to remain silent.
Triggering a major controversy, he claimed that CRPF's request for aircraft had been denied, which led the troops to traveling by road.
However, the BJP hit back sharing videos of Malik praising the government.
Following Malik's criticism of the Centre, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interviewed him in 2023 where Malik stuck to his allegations.