Dynasty politics rules the roost in Haryana

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Dynasty politics rules the roost in Haryana

Tuesday, 23 April 2019 | Nishu Mahajan | Chandigarh

Blood is thicker than water”- the influential political families in Jatland-Haryana are swearing by this dictum in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Cutting across political spectrum, the family lines remain a dominant factor in Haryana this election. The young generation of three famed Lals of Haryana—Devi Lal, Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal— who served as Chief Minister of Haryana, are slugging it out in the general elections to preserve their political legacy. 

In Haryana, five of the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies have at least one member of a political family contesting in the polls. And, be it BJP, Congress, Indian National Lok Dal or Jannayak Janta Party, all major political players have given ticket to a slew of dynasts to take on their rivals in the election.

In fact, political dynasties in Haryana are not a new phenomenon and this time also, sons of three political heavyweights have been handed out tickets to make poll debut.

Hisar is one unique Lok Sabha constituency, which is witnessing the “mother of all poll battles” with three political dynasts in the fray. These included the outgoing MP and JJP nominee Dushyant Chautala and political greenhorns-BJP nominee, IAS Brijendra Singh and Congress candidate Bhavya Bishnoi.

Dushyant Chautala, a Jat, comes from Haryana’s politically influential Chautala clan and represents the fourth generation of former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary  Devi Lal. He is the grandson of former Chief Minister and INLD’s supremo Om Prakash Chautala. 

His father Ajay Chautala is a former MP and mother Naina Chautala is a sitting MLA in Haryana Assembly. Dushyant’s uncle, Abhay Chautala is also a sitting MLA and is spearheading the INLD. 

Dushyant, while representing the Indian National Lok Dal in 2014 polls had defeated the BJP-HJC candidate Kuldeep Bishnoi to become the youngest ever elected MP to the Lok Sabha. 

Dushyant, who is now leading the JJP, a splinter group of INLD, vows to take forward the legacy of Chaudhary Devi Lal and is seeking his re-election from Hisar.

To take revenge of his father’s defeat in 2014 polls in Hisar, Kuldeep Bishnoi’s son Bhavya, 26, will make his electoral debut on a Congress ticket and will take on Dushyant Chautala.

Bhavya, a young third-generation politician in Haryana and grandson of three-time former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, holds a bachelor’s degree in ‘Economics and Government’ from London School of Economics and Political Science and Master of Science from University of Oxford.

His father, Kuldeep Bishnoi is MLA from Adampur assembly segment while mother, Renuka is MLA from Hansi constituency, both assembly segments falls in Hisar Lok Sabha seat.

Bhavya’s grandfather, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, was a prominent non-Jat leader, who had managed to become a potential non-Jat option for the voters and led the Congress for years, bringing together non-Jats like Dalits, Yadavs and other Hindu castes in Haryana.

Another ‘son’ who has bagged a ticket is IAS Brijendra Singh, son of Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Birender Singh.

A Haryana cadre IAS officer of 1998 batch, Brijendra, 46, will contest his maiden election on a BJP ticket from Hisar constituency, which his father had won in 1984 by defeating former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala.

Brijendra’s father Birender Singh is the grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram, one of the tallest Jat and farmer leaders of pre-Partition era. His mother, Prem Lata is a sitting MLA from Uchana Kalan, which falls in Hisar Lok Sabha constituency.

The IAS officer has voluntarily retired from the Haryana Government to carry on the political legacy of his great grandfather and peasant leader Sir Chhotu Ram.

Interesting, the general elections are witnessing three youth candidates from Chautala clan, divided in two parties—JJP and INLD. 

After the split in Chautala family last year, the election has paved way for the launch of Arjun Chautala, younger son of INLD secretary-general Abhay Chautala, in the electoral politics.

Arjun, 26, is a national chief of party’s students’ wing ISO (INLD students’ organization) and will contest from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency. He is pitted against BJP’s nominee Nayab Saini, Minister of State for Labour and Congress candidate former Minister Nirmal Singh.

Notably, the INLD had split last November following a power struggle between two brothers Abhay Chautala and Ajay Chautala, grandsons of Chaudhary Devi Lal. The JJP, a splinter group of INLD was formed by Ajay Chautala and his two sons- Dushyant and Digvijay. 

The bitter feud in the INLD was the biggest political spectacle of Haryana in 2018. Both, OP Chautala and his elder son Ajay are serving a 10-year jail term in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam. 

Amid the Chautala clan feud, another member of the family has also thrown his hat into the poll ring. JJP has fielded Dushyant’s younger brother Digvijay from Sonipat Lok Sabha constituency. 

Digvijay, 27, who had earlier this year made his political debut in Jind bypoll and finished at second spot, will now face a tough poll battle against former Chief Minister and Congress nominee Bhupinder Singh Hooda and BJP’s Ramesh Chander Kaushik (outgoing MP) in Sonipat constituency. 

Congress veteran and a prominent Jat leader, Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s son Deepender is also in the fray from the Rohtak constituency for the fourth time. Chaudhary Ranbir Singh, father of Bhupinder Hooda, had won the Rohtak seat twice, Hooda had won it four times while Deepender has made a hat-trick of victory in Rohtak, known as Hooda’s bastion.  

In this election, Deepender is facing ruling BJP’s Arvind Sharma, a Brahmin candidate in Jat dominated Rohtak Lok Sabha seat.

In Bhiwani-Mahendragarh constituency, Congress has fielded another dynast—former MP Shruti Choudhry, granddaughter of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal, who is also known as the ‘architect of Haryana.’ 

A third-generation politician, Shruti Choudhry has the responsibility of carrying forward a legacy passed down from her grandfather Bansi Lal to her father late Surender Singh and down to her. Her mother Kiran Choudhry is CLP leader and an MLA from Tosham assembly segment.

Shruti made a successful debut in politics in 2009 general election but had lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.  She will face the outgoing MP and BJP’s nominee Dharambir in the poll battle.

Haryana goes to polling in a single phase on May 12 and it remains to be seen how these young generation politicians influence the psyche of voters using their last name and whether they will emerge victorious or not.

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