Former Speaker and the last Deputy Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, Kavinder Bhushan Gupta, has been appointed as the new Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Ladakh by the President of India.
A veteran BJP leader from Jammu and Kashmir with deep roots in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Kavinder Bhushan Gupta, will replace Brigadier (Dr) B.D. Mishra (Retd), whose resignation has been formally accepted.
The political career of the newly appointed Lieutenant Governor was shaped by national stalwarts such as former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, Akali leaders Jagdev Singh Talwandi, Jeevan Singh Umranangal, and BJP leader Babu Hitabileshi.
While still a student in Class 11, Kavinder spent 13 months in Patiala Jail with these political veterans during the Emergency imposed in 1975. At the time, he was picked up from Gurdaspur, where his father was posted, and shifted to Patiala Jail, where many political leaders were already lodged. At the young age of 16, he had the rare opportunity to spend over a year in close company with prominent leaders from across the country, especially Punjab, learning invaluable lessons from them.
Though Kavinder's formal electoral journey began in his native Jammu and Kashmir, his political grooming started in Punjab, where he served as State Secretary of ABVP for three years.
His father, an employee in the Postal and Telegraph Department, was posted in various places, including Gurdaspur and later Srinagar, where the family moved subsequently.
A native of Smailpur village—the birthplace of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, one of the founding leaders of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh—Kavinder Gupta officially joined the BJP in 1988, when he was appointed District President of the BJYM, the party's youth wing. From 1993 to 1998, he served as State President of the BJYM.
In the 2002 and 2008 Assembly elections, Gupta was initially given the BJP mandate from the Jammu West Assembly segment, but the party changed its candidates at the last minute.
In the 2014 Assembly polls, he was shifted to the Gandhi Nagar Assembly segment in Jammu city—then considered a Congress stronghold—where he defeated senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla.
Kavinder Gupta was the first Mayor of the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) and held the position for three consecutive terms.
On March 18, 2015, he was elected Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, a role he held until April 29, 2018.
In 2018, Gupta was appointed Deputy Chief Minister, replacing Dr. Nirmal Singh, during a politically sensitive period marked by public unrest over the Kathua gang rape case and rising tensions within the ruling coalition.
Known for his low-key demeanour and grassroots connect, Gupta has consistently emphasized balanced development across the three regions—Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Born on December 2, 1959, Kavinder Bhushan Gupta is a graduate and the father of three children.
