Lalji Tandon (12 April 193521 July 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the 18th Governor of Madhya Pradesh and 28th

Governor of Bihar The governor of Bihar is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of Bihar. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of 5 years. Phagu Chauhan is the current governor of Bihar. Former President Zaki ...

. He had also served as a member of parliament from 1996 until 2014 and as the Leader of the Opposition of the

Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known a ...

from 2003 until 2007. He was a member of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

(BJP) and a protégé of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Early life

Tandon was born in Chowk village in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

, United Provinces,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

to Shivnarayan Tandon and Annpurna Devi. He graduated from Kalicharan Degree College. Tandon married Krishna Tandon on 26 February 1958, with whom he had three sons.

Career

Tandon was a member of

Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad'') is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is ...

(Legislative Council) for two terms, from 1978 until 1984 and remained the Leader of the House, of the Council from 1990 to 1996. Subsequently, he remained a member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for three terms, 1996–2009, and remained the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly from 2003 to 2007. He had also served as Urban Development minister in the

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

cabinet under

Mayawati Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social cha ...

(in the BSP-BJP alliance), and also in the

Kalyan Singh Kalyan Singh (5 January 1932 – 21 August 2021) was an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He served twice as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and as a Member of Parliament. He was the Chief minister of Utt ...

ministry earlier. Tandon was the leader of opposition in the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Hindi: ''Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house filled by direct election using a single-member first-past-the- ...

from 2003 to 2007. On his birthday in April 2004, he was distributing free

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

s to poor women when a stampede broke out, killing 21 people. He was cleared of wrongdoing in this matter. In May 2009, he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

to the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

from

by a margin over 40,000 votes over Rita Bahuguna Joshi of

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

. The seat was earlier held by former BJP President Atal Bihari Vajpayee since 1991 for four consecutive terms. Despite enormous electoral spending, Akhilesh Das of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) polled third, trailing by 70,000 votes. As a

, he was praised for streamlining academic activities of the state universities. On 20 July 2019, he was appointed the 18th Governor of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

, replacing

Anandiben Patel Anandiben Mafatbhai Patel (born 21 November 1941) is an Indian politician serving as the current Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She also served as Governor of Madhya Pradesh and Governor of Chhattisgarh. She has served as the first female Chie ...

Other works

In 2018, Tandon wrote a book ''Ankaha'' which was launched by the Vice President of India

Venkaiah Naidu Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu (born 1 July 1949) is an Indian politician who served as the 13th vice president of India from 2017 to 2022. He is the first Indian vice president born in independent India. He has also served as the minister of Hous ...

Death and legacy

Tandon died on 21 July 2020 at

Medanta Hospital Global Health Limited, Trade name, d/b/a Medanta, is an Indian Hospital network, hospital chain based in Gurgaon, India. The chain was started in 2009 by cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan and Sunil Sachdeva. History In 2004, cardiac surgeon Nares ...

, from Covid-19, at the age of 85. His son Ashutosh Tandon announced his death. Lalji Tandon Foundation was formed in October 2020. This foundation will be chaired by Gopal Tandon and will implement public services. In July 2020, two roads in Uttar Pradesh were proposed to be named after Tandon. In December 2020, in another proposal, a boxing hall bearing the name of Tandon is to be built in Chowk Stadium, Lucknow. Chancellor’s award to provide fillip to ‘best’ colleges, universities started by Chancellor Lalji Tandon.

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

unveils statue of Lalji Tandon on his first death anniversary in Lucknow.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tandon, Lalji 1935 births 2020 deaths People from Lucknow district Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh India MPs 2009–2014 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 1997–2002 Members of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2002–2007 Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2007–2012 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Leaders of the Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Governors of Madhya Pradesh University of Lucknow alumni Governors of Bihar Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India