Jammu, March 5 – Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta resigned from his post on Thursday, just eight months after assuming office.
Gupta took the oath on July 18, 2025, becoming the third Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory.
His tenure coincided with growing unrest in the region, where civil society groups and organizations such as the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance have been protesting for statehood, Sixth Schedule protections, and job reservations for locals.
Reports also indicated that Gupta faced public anger on Wednesday during his visit to a local monastery.
Gupta, 66, joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at the age of 13. He was imprisoned for thirteen months during the Emergency.
He served as the secretary of the Punjab unit of the Vishva Hindu Parishad from 1978 to 1979, and was also the chief of the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Bharatiya Yuva Morcha from 1993 to 1998.
He was elected as the Mayor of Jammu for a record three consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2010. In the 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, he contested as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party and was elected from the Gandhinagar constituency in Jammu, defeating the sitting MLA Raman Bhalla of the Congress.
On March 19, 2015, Gupta was elected as the Speaker of the J&K Assembly, becoming the first ever Bharatiya Janata Party leader to hold the post.
On April 30, 2018, Gupta was appointed as the Deputy Chief Minister as part of a cabinet reshuffle, succeeding Nirmal Kumar Singh.
On June 19, 2018, Gupta resigned from the post of Deputy Chief Minister after 51 days of taking the oath, following the BJP's withdrawal from the alliance with the PDP.
Ram Madhav, then BJP National General Secretary, presided over the press conference in which the announcement to end the alliance was made.
He criticized the CM Mehbooba Mufti-led government, saying it had "failed in its responsibility." He added that the increase in violence, threats to fundamental rights, and the rise in radicalization were the main factors behind the BJP's decision to quit the J&K coalition government.
Gupta was appointed as the 3rd Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh on July 14, 2025, and took the oath on July 18, 2025.