Says we want Ladakh to be recognised globally as top tourism destination
DH NEWS SERVICE
Leh, july 18
Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Kavinder Gupta on Friday expressed his commitment to rebuilding the Union Territory with people’s support, and said they want to take Ladakh to a level where its name will be recognised globally as a top tourism destination.
Gupta on Friday took oath as the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh. Earlier, he had held several key positions including those of deputy chief minister and Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
He was administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court, Justice Arun Palli, at a ceremony held at the Raj Niwas.
“I have been appointed here to the post of Lieutenant Governor. I want to assure the people of Ladakh that rising above religion, caste, and party politics, we will all work together to rebuild a New Ladakh,” Gupta told reporters soon after taking over as Lieutenant Governor.
Kavinder pointed towards discrimination with the region in the past and said, “There is still a lot to be done. There’s no doubt that Ladakh has faced a lot of discrimination in the past.”
Spelling out his agenda for the development of the region, he said, “We want to take Ladakh to a level where its name will be recognised globally as a top tourism destination—just like those places in the world known for tourism, Ladakh’s name will also be counted among them.”
Earlier, Chief Secretary Pawan Kotwal read the warrant of Gupta’s appointment by President Droupadi Murmu
Kavinder Gupta is the third Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory and succeeds Brigadier B D Mishra, who took over as LG of the Union Territory on February 19, 2024. Mishra had succeeded R K Mathur, a bureaucrat appointed as the first LG of Ladakh in 2019, after the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was split into two Union Territories.
President Murmu appointed Gupta as the new Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh on Monday.
Gupta has held several key posts in the past, both in the government and within his party.
He was the J&K deputy chief minister for 51 days in 2018 during the BJP-PDP government. He quit the post when the BJP withdrew its support from the Mehbooba Mufti-led government.
Hailing from Jammu city’s Janipur area, 66-year-old Gupta has also served as Jammu mayor for a record three consecutive terms from 2005 to 2010. He also served as general secretary of the BJP’s state unit and headed the J&K unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) for two consecutive terms from 1993 to 1998.
Gupta was elected as an MLA for the first time from the Gandhi Nagar constituency, defeating sitting Congress minister Raman Bhalla in the 2014 Assembly elections.
Following the PDP-BJP alliance’s victory in those elections, Gupta was unanimously elected as the speaker of the House.
Gupta, who also earlier served as secretary of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), spent about 13 months in jail during the Emergency as a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker.
