Chaudhary Devi Lal
This story begins in British India. The year was 1919. Devilal’s ancestors came and settled in Chautala village, bordering Rajasthan, in the same year. The nearby Tejakheda village has also been claiming Devi Lal’s birthplace. On the other hand, some people associated with the family say that Devilal was born in his maternal grandfather’s house. Chaudhary Devilal’s maternal grandfather is in Amarpura Jalu of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan. Apart from all these claims, Chautala and Devi Lal have remained complementary to each other for eight decades. He was married to Harki Devi. Devi Lal, popularly known as Tau, reached the chair of the Chief Minister of Haryana twice. At the same time, from December 2, 1989 to June 21, 1991, he was the Deputy Prime Minister of the country. In 1952, he became MLA from Congress for the first time. Along with this, he was also a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1957 and 1962. However, after becoming the Deputy Prime Minister, he also lost three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. He had to face defeat thrice in 1991, 1996 and 1998 from Rohtak seat to his old rival Bhupinder Singh Hooda. In 1996, Devi Lal founded the Indian National Lok Dal. He became a Rajya Sabha member in 1998 and died in 2001 while still a Rajya Sabha MP.
Om Prakash Chautala
In 1926, Chaudhary Devi Lal was married to Harki Devi. He had four sons and one daughter. Eldest son Om Prakash Chautala. After this Pratap Chautala, Ranjit Singh Chautala and Jagdish Chautala. There is an interesting story about Om Prakash Chautala. He was once caught smuggling gold watches at Delhi airport and then Devi Lal expelled him from the family. But when he had to leave the post of CM of Haryana before becoming the Deputy Prime Minister in 1989, he chose the eldest son Om Prakash Chautala for the political legacy. At that time, the third son Ranjit used to handle the work of Devilal. But Devi Lal handed over the chair to Om Prakash Chautala because of the tussle between the workers. Om Prakash Chautala was the CM of Haryana four times. In 2013, Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay Chautala were also sentenced to 10-10 years in Haryana’s junior basic teachers scam. Chautala has completed his sentence but cannot contest elections due to Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act.
Ranjit Singh Chautala
Ranjit Singh Chautala was once considered the political successor of Devi Lal. Ranjit Singh, considered to be an educated and settled politician, had also been the Agriculture Minister in his father Devi Lal’s government. When Devi Lal had to go to Delhi to become the Deputy Prime Minister, most of the MLAs were in support of Ranjit Chautala. But Devilal compared him to Om Prakash.
Chautala was given attention. After this, Ranjit Singh separated from the Lok Dal and went to the Congress. He lost the assembly elections twice from Sirsa’s Rania assembly seat but managed to become an independent MLA in the 2019 assembly elections. He supported the BJP government led by Manohar Lal Khattar. After this he got the post of cabinet minister. At present, he has three ministries, including prisons and energy.
Ajay Chautala
Om Prakash Chautala has two sons – Ajay Chautala and Abhay Chautala. Ajay is big. In 2013, when Ajay Chautala was sentenced to 10 years in the JBT scam, it was a big blow to the Chautala family. At that time Ajay Chautala was the INLD MLA from Dabwali seat. Ajay Chautala entered politics in the 80s. He was MLA from Dataramgarh seat in 1989 and Nohar seat in 1993 in Rajasthan. Ajay Chautala won the election from Bhiwani Lok Sabha seat in 1999. In 2004, he became a Rajya Sabha member from Haryana. After this, he was elected MLA in 2009 from Dabwali seat of Sirsa. Ajay Chautala also counts as a sports administrator. He has also been the President of Table Tennis Federation of India.
Naina Chautala
Naina Chautala is the wife of Ajay Chautala and mother of Dushyant Chautala. In the 2019 elections, the Haryana Vidhansabha also saw a historic moment when both mother and son took oath as members of the Vidhansabha. Naina Chautala’s role was confined to the house till the 2014 assembly elections. But after Ajay Chautala was jailed in the JBT scam, he entered politics. She was the first woman from the Chautala family to enter politics. Naina contested and won the Dabwali seat in the 2014 election. In the 2019 elections, he contested the Badhda seat in Bhiwani district from his son Dushyant’s JJP (Jannayak Janata Party). Naina won this election as well.
Dushyant Chautala
Dushyant Chautala is the elder son of Abhay Chautala and Naina Chautala. Dushyant entered politics after 2013. Father Ajay Chautala was in jail at that time. Dushyant was studying abroad. In the 2014 elections, Narendra Modi’s tsunami was going on in the whole country. Dushyant contested from the Hisar Lok Sabha seat and won. His good following started appearing among the youth in Haryana. Meanwhile, Dushyant’s family feud with uncle Abhay Chautala also started and in October 2018, Dushyant and his younger brother Digvijay were expelled from the party. Next month, the order came to expel father Ajay Chautala from INLD. After this, in December 2018, Dushyant from Jind announced a new party in the name of Jannayak Janata Party. Dushyant won the election from Jind’s Uchanakalan seat. His fledgling party JJP emerged as the kingmaker in Haryana with 10 seats. In power, she became a partner in the BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar government. Dushyant Chautala was sworn in as the Deputy CM of Haryana on 27 October 2019.
Digvijay Chautala
Digvijay Chautala is the younger son of Ajay and Naina Chautala. On October 7, 2018, Abhay Chautala was hooted at a rally in Sonipat’s Gohana. Om Prakash Chautala, who was out on parole, was also present in this rally. The Abhay camp pointed fingers at Dushyant Chautala and his family. On 2 November 2018, Digvijay Chautala and Dushyant Chautala were shown the way out of INLD. Digvijay was also the president of INLD’s youth wing at that time. This youth wing was disbanded. After this, along with his elder brother Dushyant, Digvijay launched a public relations campaign across Haryana. Both the brothers together gave a big blow to the INLD and this was the reason that the INLD which had 19 MLAs in the 2014 elections was reduced to just one seat. Digvijay is getting married with Lagan Randhawa of Amritsar. Both Om Prakash Chautala and Abhay Chautala did not attend the engagement party held on March 13.
Abhay Chautala
Om Prakash Chautala’s younger son Abhay Chautala won the election of Deputy Sarpanch from Chautala village for the first time. At the same time, his political career in the assembly started in 2000. He was elected MLA from Rodi Halka seat of Sirsa district. In 2005, he was the President of Sirsa District Panchayat. In 2009, he again became MLA after winning the by-election from Ellenabad seat. In the 2014 assembly elections, Abhay Chautala continued his winning streak. Once again he was elected from Ellenabad. He got the responsibility of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. In the 2019 assembly elections, he was defeated by nephew Dushyant Chautala’s party. Abhay Chautala’s only seat of Ellenabad went to the INLD. Abhay Chautala has also been active as a sports administrator. He has been the Vice President of the Indian Olympic Association. Apart from this, he has also been the president of Haryana Olympic Association, Haryana State Volleyball Association and Haryana Boxing Association.
Kanta Chautala
Abhay Chautala’s wife Kanta Chautala first tried her hand in the 2016 district panchayat elections. Kanta Chautala contested from Dabwali seat of Zilla Parishad, but Abhay’s cousin Aditya Chautala defeated her in the election from the same ward. He has been active in INLD politics for more than two years. His presence is visible in the party meetings in Hisar.
Karan Chautala
Karan Chautala is the elder son of Abhay Chautala and Kanta Chautala. Karan had won the 2016 Sirsa District Panchayat elections. After this he also became the Vice President of the Zilla Parishad. In 2022, he became the chairman of Sirsa Zilla Parishad. At present, Karan is active in INLD politics along with his father. In Abhay Chautala’s Haryana Parivartan Padyatra, he is engaged in village-to-village public relations campaign.
Arjun Chautala
Arjun Chautala is the younger son of Abhay Chautala. Arjun is the President of the National Executive of the Youth Wing of INLD. Arjun is also playing an active role along with his father Abhay Chautala in the Parivartan Yatra originating from different parts of Haryana. Arjun Chautala contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Kurukshetra but was defeated.
Source: navbharattimes.indiatimes.com
: Language Inputs
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