SRINAGAR: Senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta was sworn in as the new Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh on Friday, four days after his appointment by President Droupadi Murmu.
Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, Justice Arun Palli, administered the oath at Raj Niwas, Leh. Chief Secretary Pawan Kotwal read out the President’s warrant of appointment.
Gupta, 66, hails from Janipur in Jammu and briefly served as Deputy Chief Minister in the PDP-BJP government in 2018. He stepped down after the BJP withdrew support from then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
A three-time Jammu mayor (2005–2010), Gupta was BJP state general secretary and led the party’s youth wing, BJYM, from 1993 to 1998. He entered the Assembly in 2014 by defeating Congress leader Raman Bhalla from Gandhi Nagar and was later elected Speaker.
A former VHP secretary and RSS worker, Gupta also spent 13 months in jail during the Emergency.
