I will act as guardian of Bihar, says Tandon
LUCKNOW : Veteran BJP leader Lalji Tandon, who was appointed the Bihar governor on Tuesday, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reposing faith in him. Tandon, considered the protégé of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, described Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as an old friend of his. “I will act as guardian of Bihar,” he said, talking to reporters here. CM Yogi Adityanath, deputy CM Dinesh Sharma and other ministers were among those who called on Tandon at his Hazratganj residence. The chief minister stayed there for around 45 minutes.
LUCKNOW: Veteran BJP leader Lalji Tandon, who was appointed the Bihar governor on Tuesday, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reposing faith in him.
Tandon, considered the protégé of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, described Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar as an old friend of his.
“I will act as guardian of Bihar,” he said, talking to reporters here.
Soon after Tandon’s appointment was announced, many senior leaders visited his residence to greet him.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma and many other ministers were among those who called on Tandon at his Hazratganj residence. The chief minister stayed there for around 45 minutes.
Born on April 12, 1935, Tandon worked very closely with Vajpayee for around seven decades and also represented him when he (Vajpayee) was elected MP from Lucknow for five terms.
After Vajpayee’s exit from active politics, Tandon contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Lucknow, his mentor’s seat since 1991, and won by a margin of around 40,000 votes, defeating Congress candidate Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who is now a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government. Tandon was a member of the UP Vidhan Parishad for two terms from 1978-84 and 1990-1996, after which he was elected to the lower house (Vidhan Sabha) for three terms.
He served as urban development minister in the Mayawatiled BJP-BSP government and also in the Kalyan Singh government earlier. He once had a good rapport with the BSP chief Mayawati, who would tie a rakhi on his hand.
Tandon was reportedly unhappy when the party denied the Lok Sabha ticket to him in 2014 and fielded Rajnath Singh from Lucknow. There was speculation then that Tandon might be sent to Rajya Sabha or a Raj Bhawan. His colleagues Kalyan Singh and Keshari Nath Tripathi were appointed governors in 2014.
Tandon was briefly in a controversy in April 2004 as a stampede killed 21 people when he was distributing free saris to poor women on his birthday that coincided with the eve of elections. He was given a clean chit by the administration later.