Kavinder Gupta (born 2 December 1959) is an Indian politician from the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He is the last

Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir The deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir is the title given to the deputy head of government of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. The state was reconstituted by the government of India as the union territory of Jammu ...

state.

Personal life

Kavinder Gupta was born on 2 December 1959. He has three children – two daughters and one son.

Political career

Gupta joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

at the age of thirteen. He was jailed for thirteen months during The Emergency. Gupta served as the secretary of the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

unit of the

Vishva Hindu Parishad Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian Right-wing politics, right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindutva, Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Chinmayananda Saraswati, ...

from 1978 to 1979. He also served as the chief of the

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

unit of the Bharatiya Yuva Morcha from 1993 till 1998. Gupta was elected mayor of the city of

Jammu Jammu () is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute ...

for a record three consecutive terms, from 2005 to 2010. In the

2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election The 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election was held in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in five phases from 25 November – 20 December 2014. Voters elected 87 members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which en ...

, he contested as a member of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and was elected a

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

from the Gandhinagar constituency. He defeated Raman Bhalla of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, the incumbent. On 19 March 2015, Gupta was elected

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the assembly. He also became the first ever Bharatiya Janata Party leader to be appointed as the speaker. On 30 April 2018, Gupta was appointed as the

state as a part of a cabinet reshuffle. He succeeded

Nirmal Kumar Singh Nirmal Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and was the last Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State. He is a former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He is a leader of Bharatiy ...

. On 19 June 2018, Gupta resigned from the post of Deputy Chief Minister after 51 days of taking the oath as BJP pulled out from the alliance with PDP.

Ram Madhav Varanasi Ram Madhav (born 22 August 1964) is an Indian politician who served as the National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a member of the National Executive of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and has authored a few boo ...

, then BJP National General Secretary, presided over the press conference in which the announcement to end the alliance was made. He criticised the CM

Mehbooba Mufti Mehbooba Bur Mufti Sayed (Urdu: محبوبہ مفتی سید; born 22 May 1959) in Bijbihara Anantnag district is an Indian politician and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP), who served as the 9th and last chie ...

-led government, saying it had "failed in its responsibility." He added that increase in violence, threat to fundamental rights and increase in radicalisation were the main factors behind the BJP's decision to quit the J&K coalition government.

Controversies

In February 2015, Gupta courted controversy by blaming the Rohingya Muslim refugees for the 2018 Sunjuwan attack on an army camp. After being sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of the state, Gupta stated that the

Kathua rape case The Kathua rape case involved the abduction, gang rape, and murder of an 8-year-old Muslim girl, Asifa Bano, by seven males (six men and a juvenile) in January 2018 in the Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, India. A chargesheet fo ...

was a "small incident

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

should not be given too much importance". Hindu right-wing groups had held rallies supporting the accused in the case, the gang-rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl. He faced criticism from opposition Congress party and opposition leader

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the chief minister of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He had previously served as the chief minister of the state of Jammu and Kashmir between 2009 and ...

. Gupta later said that the media had misinterpreted his comment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Kavinder Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Jammu and Kashmir Speakers of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 2014–2018 Living people Deputy chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir 1959 births Politicians from Jammu Mayors of places in Jammu and Kashmir 21st-century mayors of places in India Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India)