He was deputy chief minister in the Justice (retd)
Gurnam Singh Akali Dal-
Jan Sangh ministry in 1969-70. He also served as cabinet minister in 1977-79 and in 1997–2002 in the ministries headed by
Parkash Singh Badal. Tandon was a founding member of the
Jan Sangh in 1951, and served as secretary of Punjab Jan Sangh from 1951 to 1957, and as president of the Punjab BJP from 1995 to 1997. He was elected to
Punjab Legislative Assembly six times — five times from
Amritsar in 1960,1962,1967,1969, and 1977, and once from
Rajpura in 1997. He contested the Rajpura seat in 2002, but lost to
Raj Khurana of the Indian National Congress. He was imprisoned in 1975 during the Emergency for 19 months. On 14 July 2014 he was named as the next
Governor of Chhattisgarh. ==Family life==