Balramji Dass Tandon cremated with full state honours

Chandigarh, August 16

The mortal remains of Chhattisgarh Governor Balramji Dass Tandon were consigned to the flames with full state honours in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana K P Singh, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher and others paid tributes to the leader.

The funeral pyre was lit by Tandon’s son, Sanjay Tandon, who is the chief of the Chandigarh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Earlier in the day, the body of the veteran BJP leader, wrapped in the Tricolour, was brought to the Punjab BJP office here for people to pay their last respects. Thereafter, the body was brought to the cremation ground at Sector 25.

Tandon, 90, passed away on Tuesday at a hospital in Raipur after he complained of uneasiness.

He had assumed the office of governor of Chhattisgarh on July 2014. He was one of the founder members of the Jan Sangh, from which the BJP was born.

During his long political career, he served on various posts, including as deputy chief minister of Punjab. The six-time MLA was also jailed from 1975 to 1977 during Emergency. PTI