Former UP Governor and ex-foreign secretary Romesh Bhandari died on Saturday night after a prolonged illness. He was 85. Family sources said he was suffering from pancreatic cancer and was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon for the last three weeks. Bhandari is survived by his wife and daughter.
Condoling his death, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit described him as an ‘able administrator’. Bhandari had served as the lieutenant Governor of Delhi apart from serving as the Governor of Tripura and Goa. He was made the Governor of UP in July 1996 when the State was under President’s rule.
He was the foreign secretary between 1985-’86. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had appointed him as the chairman of Congress party foreign cell in AICC after his retirement.
Born on March 29, 1928 in lahore, he had joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1950 as the Vice-Consul at the consulate in New York. A Medanta Hospital spokesperson said, “Bhandari was admitted on August 31. He had been ailing for some time. He was admitted in the ICU and he breathed his last at 9.50 pm last night due to multi-organ failure.”