It just isn’t at all times {that a} Governor affiliated to the ruling dispensation speaks towards the federal government. So when Satya Pal Malik, then Meghalaya Governor, selected to unequivocally assist the farmers’ agitation over the now-repealed farm legal guidelines in 2021, his remarks not simply left the Modi authorities red-faced but additionally made nationwide headlines.
Dragging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah into the controversy, Mr. Malik, whereas talking at a operate at Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh in March 2021, stated he urged the 2 leaders to not use power towards the farmers and not ship them again “empty handed”. His assertion in assist of the agitation made him a darling of the farmer unions and the khaps in Haryana. Mr. Malik sharpened his assaults within the following months, even calling Mr. Modi “arrogant” at a operate in Haryana.
Mr. Malik, a three-time MP, fired a contemporary salvo at Mr. Modi in an interview to The Wire earlier this month, focusing on the Prime Minister over the Pulwama terror assault, the dealing with of the Kashmir problem and his stance on corruption.
The 76-year-old chief, whose hobbies embrace poetry, music and images, has been recognized to be “outspoken”. Several of his off-the-cuff remarks and actions throughout his stints as Governor of 4 States over the previous six years have raised eyebrows. As Bihar Governor, he wrote to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then heading a coalition authorities with the BJP, on the Muzaffarpur shelter house intercourse abuse case, stressing the necessity for “developing an institutional mechanism” to make sure a daily social audit of shelter houses by competent establishments.
In March 2020, he stated: “Governor has no work. In Kashmir, the Governor usually drinks alcohol and plays golf. In other States too, the Governor lives peacefully and does not get involved in any dispute.”
Joining politics
Mr. Malik entered politics within the mid-Sixties impressed by the socialist ideology of Ram Manohar Lohia. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 and was appointed its nationwide vice-president in 2012. He was a member of Mr. Modi’s crew within the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
He had a short stint with the Congress within the mid-Eighties. Mr. Malik was the overall secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha earlier than quitting the get together in 1987 over the Bofors rip-off. He was one of the founders of the Jan Morcha, which later turned the Janata Dal in 1988.
Mr. Malik was appointed Bihar Governor in 2017. He was despatched to Jammu and Kashmir in August 2018, which was seen as an elevation for him. In an interview to a information channel the identical 12 months, Mr. Malik referred to as Mr. Modi the “best Prime Minister” for Jammu and Kashmir.
But the connection began to bitter thereafter. Mr. Malik was on the helm when the particular standing of Jammu and Kashmir beneath Article 370 was revoked in August 2019. In the interview, Mr. Malik claimed he was not conscious of the transfer until the evening earlier than and would have suggested the federal government to not demote Jammu and Kashmir to a Union Territory. He was transferred to Goa in October 2019.
After serving for round 9 months, he was transferred to Meghalaya. Mr. Malik claimed he was shunted out of Goa in a rush after he knowledgeable the Prime Minister in regards to the corruption within the State. He retired as Meghalaya Governor on October 4, 2022
Belonging to the politically influential Jat group, Mr. Malik hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat and likewise has ancestral roots in Haryana. He attracts assist from the socially highly effective khaps and farmer unions within the State and neighbouring Punjab.
Soon after his interview, khap and farmer leaders got here out in his assist for “speaking the truth”. However, many are additionally doubting the credibility of his claims and see a political motive behind it, given the timing of his “revelations”, his altering statements, and reward for Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
But Mr. Malik appears to have reached a degree of no return on a potential truce with Mr. Modi, which is obvious from his current go to to the Jantar Mantar in assist of the wrestlers protesting towards former Wrestling Federation of India Chairman and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
