Senior BJP leader lalji Tandon said that he relished his relationship with late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee more than the gubernatorial assignment given to him as ‘what he was today was only because of the former PM’. In a communiqué from President Ram Nath Kovind, lalji Tandon was made Governor of Bihar.
“I have been made Governor which is a responsibility given to me that I will fulfill to the best to my ability. But my association with Atal ji was something special which I cannot express in words,” Tandon told this reporter in the presence of well-wishers who came to congratulate him for his new assignment.
When asked whether the new assignment was given to him due to his association with Atal, Tandon said that his relationship with the former PM had nothing to do with the new assignment. “If still some say it is because of Atalji, I feel honoured. I will say this assignment has Atalji’s blessings,” he said.
Tandon said that he enjoyed good relation with Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar and would have no problem in dealing with the government there. “I know him (Nitish Kumar) for many years. I am sure I will get full support from the Chief Minister,” he said.
Tandon, a close aide of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had been waiting in the wings for the last many years. After Vajpayee decided not to contest from lucknow, Tandon was the obvious choice and he won the 2009 lok Sabha election from the state capital. At that time, he had said that he was not working as MP of lucknow but as a representative of Vajpayee.
However in 2014, he vacated his seat for Rajnath Singh. After the Modi government came to power, it was believed that Tandon will be compensated for his sacrifice by being given a gubernatorial assignment. At that time, he refused but showed his willingness to go to Rajya Sabha but the seat was again given to Manohar Parrikar in an election held in November 2014.
Tandon, however, did not want to talk about the past. “I am a dedicated soldier of the party. What the party asked me to do, I did. This time I have been given a new assignment and I will fulfill the responsibility,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated lalji Tandon for his new assignment.