Out the door of Raj Bhavan, Satya Pal Malik declares support for Jayant, Akhilesh
Out the door of Raj Bhavan, Satya Pal Malik declares support for Jayant, Akhilesh
m.u.h
07/10/2022259
With the end of his gubernatorial assignment in Meghalaya on Monday, Satya Pal Malik Wednesday declared that he would support Rashtriya Lok Dal’s (RLD) Jayant Chaudhary and Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Akhilesh Yadav.
Speaking to reporters at his village of Hisawada in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, Malik said he had no intention of joining active politics, but indicated that he wished to be a mentor to RLD and SP.
Malik was in his parental village to attend a programme organised in his honour, where he also had lunch with local residents and special invitees.
Malik said he will continue to fight for the welfare of farmers “who had been at the receiving end of the anti-farmer policies of the Narendra Modi government”.
He added that it was time that farmers joined hands so that no political designs of any party could breach their unity. He also expressed apprehension that now he has been relieved from a seat of power in (Meghalaya), he may face probes from central agencies.
“Kitni bhi jaanch kara lo, mein fakir hoon kuch bhi nahi milega (You may go for as many probes against me, but you will find nothing as I am a ascetic),” he said.
Malik, 76, who hails from UP’s Baghpat, was a member of the UP Assembly during 1974-77. During 1980-86 and 1986-89, he represented UP in the Rajya Sabha. In 1989, he won the Lok Sabha election from Aligarh as a Janata Dal candidate. In 1990, he became the Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs and tourism.
In 2004, Malik joined the BJP and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections, losing to the then RLD chief Ajit Singh.
The Modi government appointed Malik as the Bihar Governor in October 2017 and transferred him to J&K in August 2018. During his J&K tenure, the Modi government scrapped Article 370 which granted a special status to the then state.
Malik had been governor in four states and also held the additional charge of Odisha.