Sanjay Tandon is BJP’s pick for Chandigarh seat
Two-time MP Kirron Kher opts out of race on health grounds; Sanjay to take on yet-to-be announced India bloc candidate in two-way contest
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday named senior party leader mTandon, 60, as the party’s Chandigarh candidate for the Lok Sabha elections after two-time MP Kirron Kher opted out on health grounds.
Tandon will be taking on the INDIA bloc candidate, who will be from the Congress and backed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). As the Congress has yet to name its face for the June 1 elections, the saffron fold has become the first to announce its candidate for the sole seat from Chandigarh.
Minutes after the announcement of the ticket, sitting MP Kirron Kher congratulated Tandon on X, while posting her picture with him. “Congratulations @SanjayTandonBJP Ji on being selected as the BJP candidate for the Chandigarh constituency. Wishing you all the best in your campaign ahead,” she wrote.
A second-generation politician, Sanjay is the son of Balram Dass Tandon, a veteran BJP leader, who was the Chhattisgarh governor from 2014 till his death in August 2018. A founding member of the Jan Sangh in 1951, he was also the former deputy chief minister of Punjab in 1969-70, and was elected MLA six times, five times from Amritsar and once from Rajpura between 1960 and 1997, having also served as the Punjab BJP president from 1995 to 1997.
Sanjay had served as the Chandigarh BJP chief for a decade since 2010 before Arun Sood took over in 2020. He is also BJP’s election co-in-charge for Himachal Pradesh.
A party leader said the BJP’s central election committee picked Sanjay’s name from a shortlist that also included former MP Satya Pal Jain and Arun Sood.
Speaking to mediapersons at his residence in Sector 18, Sanjay said, “It is a moment of great happiness for me. I thank the party leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president J P Nadda and Union home minister Amit Shah, for reposing their faith in me. I have been connected with the people of Chandigarh for the last four decades and I assure to serve them once elected as MP.”
Soon after the announcement of his candidacy, party supporters thronged Sanjay’s residence to congratulate him.
Sanjay was also in the fray for the Chandigarh ticket in 2019, when the BJP had chosen sitting MP Kirron Kher as its candidate, once again pitting her against Congress’ Pawan Bansal.
Kher had gone on to reclaim the seat, defeating Bansal who had won four times in 1991, 1999, 2004 and 2009.
Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat, who is also Chandigarh BJP in-charge, said, “The wait is over now. Sanjay Tandon was expecting the ticket for a decade, but he remained a loyal party worker. Chandigarh residents wanted a local candidate and the party high command has accepted our demand.”
In the 14 Lok Sabha elections conducted in Chandigarh since 1967, Congress has claimed the seat on seven occasions, while BJP has secured it four times. This time, Bansal, Chandigarh Congress president Harmohinder Singh Lucky and Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari are the front-runners for the Congress ticket from Chandigarh.
Lucky congratulated Sanjay for getting the BJP ticket, saying he had been trying for so many years. “But the people of Chandigarh have already made up their mind for a change and we are going to win with a thumping majority,” he said.
Chartered accountant-turned-politician
Born in Amritsar on September 9, 1963, Sanjay Tandon completed his primary education there. He later pursued his schooling from DAV Senior Secondary School in Sector 8 and BCom from Government College for Men in Sector 11.
A chartered accountant by profession, Sanjay is also the president of the UT Cricket Association. A follower of Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Tandon started attending RSS shakha at the age of six. Chairman of NGOs Competent Foundation and Balramji Das Tandon Charitable Foundation, he also carries out various social activities through his NGOs.
