Balram Das Tandon

Balram Das Tandon
Governor of Chhattisgarh
In office 25 July 2014 – 14 August 2018
Preceded by	Ram Naresh Yadav
Succeeded by	Anandiben Patel
Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab
In office 17 February 1969 – 26 March 1970
Preceded by	Post Created
Succeeded by	Rajinder Kaur Bhattal
Personal details
Born	{{Birth date|1927|11|1|df=yes} Amritsar, Punjab, British India
Died	14 August 2018(2018-08-14) (aged 90) Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India
Cause of death	Heart attack
Political party	Bharatiya Janata Party

Balram Das Tandon (1 November 1927 – 14 August 2018) was an Indian politician and the Former Governor of Chhattisgarh. In his adult hood for some years he was a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party from Punjab.

Political career

He was deputy chief minister in the Justice (retd) Gurnam Singh Akali Dal-Jan Sangh ministry in 1969-70 . He also served as cabinet minister in 1977-79 and in 1997–2002 in the ministries headed by Parkash Singh Badal. Tandon was a founding member of the Jan Sangh in 1951, and served as secretary of Punjab Jan Sangh from 1951 to 1957, and as president of the Punjab BJP from 1995 to 1997. He was elected to Punjab Legislative Assembly six times — five times from Amritsar in 1960,1962,1967,1969, and 1977, and once from Rajpura in 1997. He contested the Rajpura seat in 2002, but lost to Raj Khurana of the Indian National Congress. He was imprisoned in 1975 during the Emergency for 19 months. On 14 July 2014 he was named as the next Governor of Chhattisgarh.

Family life

Tandon married Brijpal, who was also an activist in the freedom movement, in 1958. They had two daughters, Alka Kawatra and Poonam Batra, who reside in New Delhi, and one son, Sanjay Tandon, who is also part of the political framework for BJP, Chandigarh. He is the currently the President of the local organisation.