SATYA PAL MALIK TAKES OATH AS J&K GOVERNOR

SRINAGAR: Satya Pal Malik was sworn-in as Jammu and Kashmir’s 13th governor on Thursday. J&K HC chief justice Gita Mittal administered him the oath of office at Srinagar’s Rajbhawan.

Malik will have the state’s direct administrative control since J&K has been under the governor’s rule since June when BJP withdrew support to the Peoples Democratic Party -led coalition government. He is the first politician to be named the state’s governor in five decades.

Malik’s immediate challenge would be to oversee local bodies’ polls likely to be conducted in a few months. The elections have been delayed due to a spike in the militant violence.

Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were among the 500 guests, who attended Malik’s oath-taking ceremony.

Malik, 72, has served as Bihar and Odisha’s governor. He began his political career in UP in the 1970s and joined the BJP in 2004. Malik replaced Narendra Nath Vohra, who had been J&K governor since 2008.

Ali Mohammad Sagar of Abdullah’s National Conference hoped Malik would be “just and fair”. “We hope he will take all the parties on board before taking crucial decisions and play his role in stopping the bloodshed in the state.’’

PDP spokesman Rafi Mir said the new governor is a politician and hoped he will have the state’s better understanding.’’

State Congress vice-president Ghulam Nabi Monga called Malik a bad choice and said he cannot be partisan.

BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur called Malik’s appointment a good omen.

“This is for the first time that a political person has been appointed as the governor. He is a nationalist and will work for the national interests.”