Satpal Malik: BJP’s ticket to form a saffron government in J&K

Satpal Malik, the newly appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, appears to be the most suitable choice for the Narendra Modi-led BJP government bent upon altering the demography of Kashmir valley. Malik, once in his long political career, was a member of the 9th Lok Sabha from Aligarh as a Janata Dal candidate during the VP Singh wave in Northern India in 1987-89. He never returned to the Lower House of Indian Parliament, even during the Modi wave of 2014. Then, he grabbed the opportunity of joining the BJP exactly when he saw its popularity graph shooting upwards in 2014.

Satpal Malik, belonging to the Baghpat-Meerut Jat belt of western UP, has had a varied and chequered political career joining and leaving almost all notable parties, who matter in UP. He began his career as a Socialist student leader in Meerut college, claiming inspiration from Socialist stalwart Ram Manohar Lohia where he remained the Students’ Union president for two terms. By early 1970s, he abandoned socialism and switched loyalties to Kisan leader Chaudhry Charan Singh and thus entered the UP assembly in 1974 as a Bharatiya Kisan Dal (BKD) member.

But soon as Chaudhry sahib left for his heavenly abode Satpal Malik too walked over to greener pastures of the Congress which was then the ruling establishment and became a Congress leader. Because Congress did not have a credible Jat face in western UP he was soon inducted into the organisation and contested the 1984 elections on Congress ticket. Though he failed to enter the 8th Lok Sabha.

The moment he assessed the tide turning against Rajiv Gandhi, he hitched his boat to Arun Nehru who had already been sidelined by Rajiv Gandhi. And with Arun Nehru, Arif Mohammad Khan under V P Singh’s leadership founded the Jan Morcha after quitting the Congress party. Thus when Janata Dal was formed he became one of the notable members of the team of spokespersons of Janata Dal and later a minister in V P Singh government. But V P Singh’s decision to some justice to the OBCs in the form of implementation of Mandal Commission report did not go well with this Jat leader as with Arun Nehru and Arif. So he joined them in quitting Janata Dal and going into wilderness for years. Finally he joined the Samajwadi Party and tried his luck again from Aligarh on SP ticket, but failed.

That is when he decided it was time to turn saffron, though it took him another ten years to formally join the BJP in 2014.

His utility to the BJP has largely been ornamental to showcase him as a prominent Jat leader from Baghpat as against Chaudhry Ajit Singh and now his son Jayant Chaudhry. But once Modi decided to promote equally harmless Ram Nath Kovind, to Rashtrapati Bhawan the choice of filling the vacancy at Patna Raj Bhawan fell on Malik for his past acquaintance with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in the heydays of Janata Dal when both were ministers in VP Singh government to ensure no scope of disagreement on the common agenda or promoting BJP and keeping Lalu Yadav in check.

Again the decision to send Satpal Malik to drink at Chashme Shahi in Srinagar was guided less by Malik’s pleasant personality than by the fact that when Modi plans to make Kashmir a national issue for the next general elections, veteran bureaucrat NN Vohra may prove to be a little too stiff and not too pliable.

If the BJP has to capitalise on Article 35A of the Constitution and attempt to form the first BJP led saffron government by hook or crook, more by crook since in any case it falls short of required numbers by a huge margin, then it needs a Governor who may not just look the other side but actively participate in the machinations. And who better than a pliable political leader.