Bihar guv Satya Pal Malik new governor of J-K replacing N N Vohra; Lal Ji Tandon succeeds Malik

Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik was today shifted to militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir in a gubernatorial reshuffle that marked the end of over a 10-year tenure of N N Vohra and also the appointment of a politician to the crucial post in more than five decades.

The announcement of the appointment of Malik, 72, in a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique appeared to indicate a change in the Kashmir strategy of the Modi government. The Centre had chosen since 1967 retired civil servants, diplomats, police officers and Army generals for the post of Governor of J and K.

J and K is currently under Governor's rule after the BJP pulled out of the ruling coalition with the PDP in June this year.

President Ram Nath Kovind also appointed Lal Ji Tandon, a BJP stalwart from Uttar Pradesh and a close confidant of late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Satyadev Narayan Arya and Baby Rani Maurya as governors of Bihar, Haryana and Uttarakhand respectively, according to the Rashtrapati Bhavan statement. Arya and Rani Maurya are also from the BJP and hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh respectively.

Karan Singh was the last Governor of J and K with a political background. He served from 1965 to 1967.

The appointment of Malik, who will head the administration in the border state, also comes against the backdrop of the changing political scenario amid speculation of the possibility of some disgruntled MLAs in the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP joining hands with the BJP.

Malik's appointment brings to an end the tenure of Vohra, a former civil servant who took over as Governor of