Lalji Tandon (12 April 1935 – 21 July 2020^[3]) was an Indian politician who served as the 18th Governor of Madhya Pradesh and 28th Governor of Bihar. He had also served as a member of parliament from 1996 until 2014 and as the Leader of the Opposition of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh from 2003 until 2007. He was a member of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a protégé of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.^[4]

Tandon was born in Chowk village in Lucknow, United Provinces, British India to Shivnarayan Tandon and Annpurna Devi.^[2] He graduated from Kalicharan Degree College.^[5][6] Tandon married Krishna Tandon on 26 February 1958, with whom he had three sons.^[2]

Tandon was a member of Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) for two terms, from 1978 until 1984 and remained the Leader of the House, of the Council from 1990 to 1996. Subsequently, he remained a member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) for three terms, 1996–2009, and remained the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly from 2003 to 2007.^[7] He had also served as Urban Development minister in the Uttar Pradesh cabinet under Mayawati (in the BSP-BJP alliance), and also in the Kalyan Singh ministry earlier.^[8]

Tandon was the leader of opposition in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from 2003 to 2007.^[9]

On his birthday in April 2004, he was distributing free saris to poor women when a stampede broke out, killing 21 people.^[10] He was cleared of wrongdoing in this matter.^[11]

In May 2009, he was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha from Lucknow by a margin over 40,000 votes over Rita Bahuguna Joshi of Indian National Congress. The seat was earlier held by former BJP President Atal Bihari Vajpayee since 1991 for four consecutive terms. Despite enormous electoral spending, Akhilesh Das of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) polled third, trailing by 70,000 votes.^[12]

As a Governor of Bihar, he was praised for streamlining academic activities of the state universities.^[13]

On 20 July 2019, he was appointed the 18th Governor of Madhya Pradesh, replacing Anandiben Patel.^[1][14]

In 2018, Tandon wrote a book Ankaha Lucknow which was launched by the Vice-President of India Venkaiah Naidu.^[15]

Tandon died on 21 July 2020 at Medanta Hospital, Lucknow, from Covid-19, at the age of 85.^[3] His son Ashutosh Tandon announced his death.^[16]

Lalji Tandon Foundation was formed in October 2020. This foundation will be chaired by Gopal Tandon and will implement public services.^[17]

In July 2020, two roads in Uttar Pradesh were proposed to be named after Tandon.^[18] In December 2020, in another proposal, a boxing hall bearing the name of Tandon is to be built in Chowk Stadium, Lucknow.^[19]

Chancellor’s award to provide fillip to ‘best’ colleges, universities started by Chancellor Lalji Tandon. ^[20]

Rajnath Singh unveiled statue of Lalji Tandon on his first death anniversary in Lucknow in July 2021. ^[21] Another statue was unveiled by Yogi Adityanath on Tandon's birth anniversary in Apr 2023.^[22]

On 25 July 2023, Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharakwal inaugurated the Lalji Tandon Multipurpose Hall^[23]