Overview
- President Droupadi Murmu appointed Sandhu in a late-Thursday reshuffle that also shifted incumbent V K Saxena to Ladakh.
- Officials say Saxena will hand over charge on Tuesday, with Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya to administer the oath on Wednesday; Chief Minister Rekha Gupta is expected to attend.
- Sandhu, a 1988-batch IFS officer, served as India’s ambassador to the United States from February 2020 to January 2024 and earlier held multiple postings in Washington.
- He joined the BJP in March 2024 and contested the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat, combining diplomatic credentials with recent political engagement.
- In posts and public remarks, Sandhu thanked the prime minister and home minister, visited Moti Bagh gurdwara, and called for collective effort to drive development so Delhi competes with leading world capitals.