The latest round of gubernatorial reshuffles happened on the back of massive lobbying in the Delhi power circles. What finally emerged was a pack of surprises, among these the appointment of former India’s ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu as the 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in place of Vinai Kumar Saxena, who moved as Ladakh L-G.
The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose Sandhu, a career diplomat-turned-politician, to replace his long-time confidante Saxena generated immense interest in the Capital as to the motives behind the move.
But when Sandhu took the oath of office this week and privately framed his appointment as – “Punjab has come to Delhi” – everything fell into place.
The political signal in installing the grandson of Teja Singh Samundri, the leading light of Gurdwara Reform Movement and a prominent founder member of the SGPC, as the Delhi L-G is not lost on anyone. The appointment’s Punjab resonance becomes clearer as Sandhu’s inauguration happened almost parallel to the commencement of BJP’s election campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly polls.
“This is a clear expression of solidarity with Sikhs across India because Delhi is the national capital and a Sikh administrative head here is a rarity,” said a senior BJP source on Sandhu’s arrival on the Delhi scene.
The last Sikh L-G of Delhi was Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, who served from December 1989 to December 1990. Sandhu is only the second Sikh leader to become the head of the Capital in 36 long years.
His inauguration also made a statement. On one end of the guest spectrum was the top political and diplomatic leadership, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, while on the other was the senior Punjab and Sikh brass cutting across party lines.
Among Punjab leaders and politicians who attended Sandhu’s oath taking at Lok Niwas here were Gurinder Singh Dhillon, head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas; Congress MP Gurjit Aujla, who defeated Taranjit Sandhu (a BJP nominee) in the 2024 Amritsar Lok Sabha elections, and BJP Punjab president Sunil Jakhar.
There were more guests from Punjab at Sandhu’s inauguration than from anywhere else, with hundreds coming in from Amritsar alone. In all, there were around a thousand people at Lok Niwas on March 11, a number Delhi L-G House Secretariat said it had never been seen before at the oath taking of any L-G.
Sandhu also assumed office proudly wearing his Punjabi and Sikh identity. He sported a deep blue turban symbolic of colours of the Khalsa founded by Guru Gobind Singh and invoked his grandfather Teja Singh Samundri, after whose name the headquarters of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are named in Amritsar. Delhi’s new L-G also remembered the legacy of Teja Singh Samundri’s sacrifices, including how when the SGPC faced a financial crisis during a legal appeal before the Privy Council, he mortgaged nearly 50 acres of his personal land to help raise the required funds.
Through organisational, social and financial contributions, Samundri helped lay the foundations of institutions that strengthened Sikh community life – a legacy Taranjit Singh Sandhu pledged to take forward as Delhi L-G.
