New Delhi: Satyapal Malik, the 79-year-old former governor of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, passed away on Tuesday at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital following a prolonged illness, his personal secretary KS Rana confirmed. He had been undergoing treatment for kidney-related ailments.
According to hospital authorities, Malik died at 1:10pm. He had been admitted on May 11 and was receiving dialysis as part of his treatment, reported news agency ANI.
On June 8, Malik had posted a health update on social media, describing his condition as “serious.” A day earlier, he had shared that he had been hospitalised for nearly a month due to kidney complications.
In August 2018, he was appointed Governor to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, becoming its 10th and last Governor, and served till October 2019. During his tenure, in August 2019, the state’s special status was revoked and it was divided into two union territories, JK and Ladakh.
Malik began his political career in the 1970s as an MLA. Over a span of five decades, he was associated with multiple political parties. Originally from Baghpat in western Uttar Pradesh, he was first elected on a Bharatiya Kranti Dal ticket, a party founded by Chaudhary Charan Singh.
In 1980, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by Charan Singh’s Lok Dal. Later, in 1984, he joined the Congress and was again sent to the Rajya Sabha in 1986.
