Brigadier BD Mishra (Retd.) was sworn in as the next lieutenant governor (LG) of Ladakh on Sunday. N. Kotiswar Singh, Chief Justice of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, administered the oath of office at the Raj Niwas in Leh.
Mishra, a former governor of Arunachal Pradesh, is the second LG of Ladakh after Radha Krishnan Mathur, who resigned after three years in office, from 31 October 2019 to 11 February 2023, following Ladakh's secession from Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the Leh Directorate of Information and Public Relations, chief executive councillors of the Kargil and Leh Autonomous Hill Development Councils, MP Ladakh, LG advisor, all administrative secretaries, and other dignitaries attended the occasion.
"Advisor Umang Narula read out the warrant of appointment of Brig. (Dr.) BD Mishra (Retd.) as Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh," according to the statement. The Ladakh police also provided the LG with a guard of honour.
Mishra's appointment comes at a time when Ladakh has been agitating against the central government, demanding statehood for the region, which was granted union territory status in 2019 after being separated from Jammu and Kashmir after losing its special status.
BD Mishra is a retired Indian Army brigadier and the former Commander of the National Security Guard's (NSG) Counter Hijack Force, also known as the Black Cat Commandos.
Mishra, who was born on July 20, 1939, in Uttar Pradesh, possesses MA, M.Sc, and LLB degrees, as well as a PhD from Jiwaji University in Gwalior.
After his studies at the Indian Military Academy, he was commissioned in Infantry, the Madras Regiment, in 1961, and resigned on July 31, 1995, following a 33-year army service. He fought in all three major wars, including those against China in 1962, Pakistan in 1965, and Bangladesh in 1971. From 1979 to 1981, he led an Infantry Battalion in the Poonch Sector, on the Indo-Pak Line of Actual Control.