Gurugram: The Ahirwal belt in Haryana is known for simple, hardy people renowned for their bravery and patriotism from time immemorial. It, thus, comes as no surprise that this region has its own set of political families that command no less mention than the dynasties of three Lals in the state — former chief ministers Bansi Lal, Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal.
The third generation of three Ahirwal families are carrying forward their dynastic legacies in this landscape comprising Mahendragarh, Rewari, and Gurugram districts. One of these families draw their lineage to Rao Tula Ram, a chieftain who took part in the First War of Independence in 1857.
Union minister Rao Inderjit Singh, the son of Haryana’s second chief minister Rao Birender Singh, is the prominent member of the Rampura House from the erstwhile State of Rewari.
The Gurugram MP has two brothers Rao Ajit Singh and Rao Yadvendra Singh. While Rao Inderjit Singh’s daughter Aarti Rao is a state executive member of BJP in Haryana, Ajit Singh’s son Rao Arjun Singh is now associated with the Congress party.
Rao Inderjit Singh, the Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Statistics and Programme Implementation, was in the news for asking tough questions to the Manohar Khattar-led BJP government regarding the communal violence in Nuh.
Captain Ajay Singh Yadav, the son of Rao Abhay Singh, has been a six-time MLA from Rewari. Notably, his father had defeated Rao Birender Singh from Rewari in 1952. Ajay Singh’s son Chiranjeev Rao won from Rewari as a Congress candidate in his debut election in 2019.
The third important family from the region is the Budhpur House established by Rao Mohar Singh. Mohar Singh is credited with opening the pre-Partition era first cooperative bank in Gurugram. His sons Rao Mahaveer Singh and Rao Vijayveer Singh went on to become MLAs. Rao Mahaveer Singh’s son Rao Narbir Singh is a three-time MLA, with his last win from Badshahpur as a BJP candidate in 2014.
Pawan Kumar Bansal, a political analyst on Haryana politics, said that while all three dynasties have been active in Ahirwal region for almost seven decades, the one that started with Rao Birender Singh is the most influential.
“Rao Birender Singh and, now, Rao Inderjit Singh not only won election on their own, irrespective of the party that fielded them, but they have the support base to get their supporters elected from other assembly seats of the Ahirwal belt,” Bansal told ThePrint.
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Legacy of Rao Birender Singh
In February, a postal stamp was released in memory of Rao Birender Singh by the postal department. On the occasion, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar described Rao Birender Singh as a “popular leader of the masses, who always espoused the cause of the people, particularly the weaker sections of society and contributed a lot to nation building.”
Rao Birender Singh had replaced Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma to become the second chief minister of Haryana, albeit for a short period from 24 March,1967 to 2 November, 1967. A descendant of freedom fighter Rao Tula Ram, Rao Birender Singh had served the British Indian Army from 1939 to 1947 and resigned as a Captain. From 1950 to 1951, he was with the Territorial Army as a commissioned officer.
His electoral debut was disastrous as he had lost to Rao Abhay Singh from Rewari in 1952. Rewari was then part of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. He then joined the Congress in 1954 and was nominated as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) for undivided Punjab and continued for two successive terms till 1966.
During this period, he remained a minister in the Partap Singh Kairon government with several important ministries like PWD, Irrigation, Power, Revenue, and Consolidation. During this period, Rao Birender Singh was among the leaders who continuously raised the demand for a separate state of Haryana.
After Haryana was carved out from Punjab in November 1966, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma became the first chief minister and Rao Birender Singh became the first speaker of the newly formed state.
In the first assembly election held for Haryana in 1967, Rao Birender Singh was elected as a Congress candidate from Pataudi. He, however, defected from Congress and set up his own Vishal Haryana Party.
His crowning moment came when he was appointed the second chief minister of the state on 24 March, 1967. But in November 1967, the assembly was dissolved and Haryana was placed under the President’s rule.
Governor B.N. Chakravarty had dismissed Rao Birender Singh’s government after he found two MLAs had switched sides twice with the Congress and the Vishal Haryana Party. Those were the years when Haryana first saw the advent of a culture wherein elected representatives changed their loyalties with alacrity — encapsulated in the ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’ phrase coined none other than by Rao Birender Singh, who himself fell victim to it.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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