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INLD, ‘grand party of Haryana Jats’, has no MLA for 1st time in 25 yrs as Abhay Chautala quits

While the INLD is no longer represented in the assembly, the same can’t be said of the Chautalas, one of the most prominent dynasties of Indian politics.

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Chandigarh: Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala’s resignation from the Haryana assembly Wednesday marked the first time in 25 years that the party, which has been at the forefront of state politics for decades, won’t have representation in the House.

Abhay Chautala, 57, the younger son of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and the only one carrying forward the baton of this once grand old party of Haryanvi Jats, resigned in protest against the Narendra Modi government’s farm laws. 

The INLD came into being in 1996, when Om Prakash Chautala renamed the Lok Dal — founded by his father and former deputy prime minister Devi Lal. 

Over this combined history, Devi Lal served as chief minister twice and Om Prakash four times.

However, while the INLD is no longer represented in the assembly, the same can’t be said of the Chautalas.

A feud between Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay — both of whom have been serving a 10-year jail term since 2013 in connection with a teacher recruitment scam — led to a split in the party three years ago, with the latter founding the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in October 2018 with his sons Dushyant and Digvijay.

Contesting its maiden assembly election in 2019, the JJP won 10 of the state assembly’s 90 seats. Dushyant is currently the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana in alliance with the BJP. The JJP’s winners also include Naina Chautala, Ajay’s wife and Dushyant’s mother.

Another Chautala in the assembly is Devi Lal’s youngest son Ranjit Singh Chautala, an Independent from Rania constituency. He and a handful of other Independent MLAs supported the BJP in forming the government. He is currently the state’s power minister.

The 2018 split in the JJP followed a battle for prominence within the INLD. When Ajay Chautala parted ways with the party, he and his sons took with them a huge cadre of party loyalists and workers.

The INLD’s implosion led to its virtual decimation in the 2019 assembly elections, when only Abhay could retain his seat in the assembly. The party had won 19 seats in 2014 despite the “Modi wave”.


Also Read: Devi Lal’s family on top of Haryana politics again, with fourth-gen dynast Dushyant Chautala


Two brothers join politics

Devi Lal’s clan derives its name from the Chautala village in Sirsa district. He came from a family of rich landlords. 

In pre-Independence India, his elder brother Sahib Ram Sihag joined the Congress and served as Sirsa MLA twice (1938 and 1947). Both brothers were arrested during the Quit India movement of 1942.

Devi Lal was first elected as a Congress MLA in 1952. He subsequently left the party and contested as an Independent candidate in the 1972 assembly elections, losing to Bansi Lal, a former CM and Union minister. 

In 1977, he contested and won on a Janata Party ticket from Bhattu Kalan and became the chief minister of Haryana. He held the chair until 1979, when dissension within the Janata Party forced him to resign, paving the way for the Congress’ Bhajan Lal to become chief minister.  

He formed the Lok Dal, which allied with the BJP for the 1982 assembly polls. However, despite the coalition having a larger number of MLAs, the governor invited the Congress, which was the single-largest party, to form the government with the help of 16 Independents. 

In the 1987 assembly elections, the BJP-Lok Dal alliance registered a record win, bagging 85 seats in the 90-member assembly and Devi Lal became the chief minister of Haryana for the second time.

In the 1989 parliamentary elections, he won two sets and gave up his chief ministerial post to become the deputy prime minister in the V.P. Singh government. He died in 2001 at the age of 85.

Sons battle over legacy

Devi Lal had four sons — Om Prakash, Partap Singh, Ranjit Singh and Jagdish Chander. All joined politics, except Chander, who died young.

When Devi Lal became the CM for the second time, Ranjit joined his cabinet. Om Prakash was then a Rajya Sabha member. In 1989, when Devi Lal went to the Centre to serve as deputy PM, the two sons battled for the CM’s post. 

Om Prakash won the battle and became chief minister but only for a brief period as he failed to become an MLA. He held on to the CM’s chair for a few months until his government was dissolved in 1991. 

In 1996, Om Prakash rebranded Lok Dal as INLD. He became chief minister again in 1999.  

When Om Prakash was chosen as Devi Lal’s political heir in Haryana, Ranjit was adjusted as a Rajya Sabha member in 1990. He then joined the Congress and remained in the party for almost 10 years, including as vice-president of the party in the state. 

In 2004, he joined the BJP but subsequently returned to the Congress. In the 2019 assembly elections, when he was denied a ticket by the Congress, he contested as an independent candidate.

Since the Congress took over the reins of the state in 2004, repeating its victory in 2009, followed by the BJP in 2014 and 2019, the INLD has not tasted power in the state.


Also Read: History repeats itself in INLD family feud, now Dushyant Chautala invokes Devi Lal


History repeats 

Om Prakash’s two sons, Ajay and Abhay had been together in the INLD for decades before parting ways in 2018.  

Ajay, now 60, started his political career from Rajasthan and joined Haryana politics in the late 1990s, but remained in Delhi either as Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha MP till his conviction in 2013. Abhay rose through the ranks, winning panchayat and zila parishad elections before becoming an MLA twice.

After Om Prakash and Ajay were jailed in 2013, Abhay virtually took over the party. The INLD registered considerable success in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when it won two of the state’s 10 seats despite the “Modi wave” across the country. 

A few months later, in the assembly elections, the INLD won 19 seats and emerged as the main opposition party. Abhay remained leader of the opposition.

Ahead of the 2019 assembly polls, where the INLD was hoping to come to power, strife erupted between Abhay and Dushyant Chautala, then an MP, as both sought to project themselves as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. 

Om Prakash threw his weight behind Abhay, and Ajay parted ways. Ajay fielded his younger son Digvijay in the Jind assembly bypoll in January 2019 but he lost. Abhay fielded his elder son Arjun as the INLD candidate from Kurukshetra in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but he lost as well.


Also Read: ‘Backing farmers not anti-party’ — grandad’s legacy drives Jat dynast from BJP to join protest


 

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