Balram Das Tandon (1 November 1927 – 14 August 2018) was an Indian politician and the 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 1995-97. He was elected to Punjab Legislative Assembly from Amritsar in 1960,1962,1967,1969, and 1977, and from Rajpura in 1997. He was imprisoned in 1975 during the Emergency for 19 months.On 14 July 2014 he was named as the next Governor of Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh governor Balramji Das Tandon passed away on Tuesday away at the age of 90. He was admitted to a hospital in Raipur on Tuesday after he complained of uneasiness,

File image of Balramji Das Tandon. CNBC

He was rushed to the state-run Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital in Raipur, the governor’s secretary, Surendra Kumar Jaiswal, told PTI. He had been kept in the hospital’s critical care unit and was under observation. He later died at the hospital, Jaiswal said.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh’s office has issued a message of condolence on the demise of the 90-year-old leader, The Indian Express reported.

Tandon was one of the founding members of the Jan Sangh which later became the BJP. He became the governor of Chhattisgarh in July 2014. During his long political career, he has served on various posts, including as deputy chief minister of Punjab. The six-time MLA was also jailed from 1975 to 1977 during the Emergency.