BJP leaders pay tributes to party veteran Lalji Tandon

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Tandon left a deep imprint on Indian politics and also played a key role in BJP’s expansion in Uttar Pradesh, a state the late leader hailed from. Expressing deep pain, former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi said he knew Tandon for more than 50 years and he was a dedicated RSS worker.

BJP leaders on Tuesday paid tributes to Madhya Pradesh Governor and party veteran Lalji Tandon, who died at a hospital in Lucknow at the age of 85. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda expressed shock at Tandon's death, saying he spent every moment of his life serving the country. It is an irreparable loss for the BJP, he said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Tandon left a deep imprint on Indian politics and also played a key role in BJP’s expansion in Uttar Pradesh, a state the late leader hailed from.

Expressing deep pain, former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi said he knew Tandon for more than 50 years and he was a dedicated RSS worker. "Tandon was very popular among party workers. There is now a dearth of leaders and administrators like him," Joshi said, adding that he embodied the culture of Lucknow.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh fondly remembered his old colleague and said his development works are still remembered by the people of Uttar Pradesh especially the residents of Lucknow. Tandon, considered close to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, played a significant role in shaping the BJP's politics in the 90s and the next decade in Uttar Pradesh.

He was instrumental in the BJP's alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh. Tandon was Vajpayee's choice to contest from Lucknow, which the former prime minister had represented in the Lok Sabha from 1991-2009, after he retired from active politics. BJP ally and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan too condoled Tandon’s demise. Opposition leader Sharad Yadav described him as a tall and effective leader, and a very good human being. The country has lost an able administrator and politician in his death, he said..