JAMMU, March 6 -- Seven and a half months on, Kavinder Gupta has stepped down from the post of lieutenant governor of Ladakh union territory, a region which had been embroiled into a protracted agitation demanding statehood and safeguards under the sixth schedule of the Constitution. Gupta had taken oath of office and secrecy on July 18 last year to become third LG of the strategic Himalayan region, which shared its border with China and Pakistan. Gupta confirmed to HT that he has stepped down but hasn't yet shared the reasons behind the development. However, Gupta's resignation coincided with the resignation of West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose. Kavinder's stint of seven months and 15 days coincided with unrest in the region, where civil society groups like Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance have been agitating for statehood, sixth schedule and job reservations for locals. On September 24 last year, barely two months after Gupta assumed office of the LG, at least four people that included a soldier were killed and around 100 injured in Leh after a mass agitation demanding full statehood for the union territory and protections for jobs and land, turned violent. Amid tumultuous developments that unfolded rapidly, climate activist and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk was detained on September 26 under national security act (NSA), two days after the violent protests. The government accused him of inciting the violence. Since then Wangchuk remains jailed in Jodhpur while his wife Gitanjali Angmo has moved the Supreme Court seeking his release. Gupta was the first-ever Dogra from Jammu and Kashmir to head the strategic Himalayan region as LG. Gupta, 66, who started off as a worker of the Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh, had succeeded Brigadier BD Mishra. Before being appointed as LG of Ladakh, Gupta also remained deputy chief minister of J&K, speaker of the J&K legislative assembly and mayor of Jammu. He also led the BJP's youth wing, BJYM, for two terms and spent 13 months in jail during the Emergency as an RSS worker. Gupta was first elected as MLA from Gandhi Nagar assembly constituency in 2014, defeating Congress leader Raman Bhalla....