Jammu and Kashmir have officially been bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – from midnight (Wednesday-Thursday), nearly three months after the central government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s decades-old special status under Article 370.
Following the bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories, the President’s rule imposed in undivided Jammu and Kashmir stands revoked, an official notification said.
Former Defence Secretary RK Mathur was sworn in as the new and first Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Ladakh. Girish Chandra Murmu will take over as Lieutenant Governor of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir later in the day.
With the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, the number of states in the country has come down to 28 and the Union Territories has gone up to nine.
The two new Union Territories have come into existence on the 144th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, the day also celebrated as National Unity Day.
Modi’s government had ended the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 and split it into two Union territories. Several politicians including former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were under detention since the ending of the special status under Article 370.
