Claiming to be carrying forward their political legacy, 10 members of the famous troika of Lals of Haryana politics -- Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal -- are in the poll fray from different parties or as Independents amid declining influence of these clans over the last five years.
While two members of the Chautala family (Chaudhary Devi Lal) are Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) candidates, one each is contesting on tickets from Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while one is contesting as an Independent. Five from the other two families are fighting on Congress tickets.
Following the 10-year rule of the Congress under Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the emergence of BJP as a major player in 2014 Assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the influence of the three families has been confined to their pocket boroughs now.
For decades, Haryana politics was synonymous with the fascinating power struggle among three Lals --Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal. However, the younger generation of the Lal clans, who are in the fray for the 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, are up against not just each other, but a new challenge the Modi factor.
Most of the BJP candidates in Haryana are not well-known faces but are in contention due to the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the other hand, the dynasts are seeking votes in the names of their great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers. BJP has taken on the dynastic politics in the State.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal's numerous grandsons, great grandsons and other family members are also in politics, such as Aditya Devi Lal, Dushyant Chautala and his brother Digvijay Chautala as well as their cousin Arjun Chautala.
Five members of the family of Devi Lal are in the poll fray this time. The youngest to enter the poll fray is 31-year-old Dushyant Chautala, former Hisar MP who is contesting on JJP ticket, a breakaway of the INLD which witnessed spilt in 2018 following a feud in the Chautala clan, from Uchana Kalan against sitting MLA Prem Lata, wife of former Union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.
Dushyant's mother Naina Chautala is contesting from Badhra constituency on JJP ticket. In 2014 assembly elections, Naina, wife of Ajay Singh Chautala, had won from Dabwali seat on INLD ticket. INLD leader and sitting MLA Abhay Singh Chautala is in the fray from Ellanabad again. Ajay and Abhay are sons of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and grandsons of Devi Lal. Aditya Singh Chautala, son of Jagdish Chautala who is one of the four sons of Devi Lal, is fighting from Dabwali assembly constituency on BJP ticket.
Ranjit Singh Chautala, 73, son of Devi Lal, has entered the electoral fray from Rania as Independent after failing to secure ticket from the Congress.
Devi Lal who was deputy Prime Minister of India in 1989–91 in the governments of Prime Minister VP Singh and Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, had served as Chief Minister of Haryana twice, first in 1977–79 and then in 1987–89. Devi Lal also comes from a prolific political dynasty of Haryana as his elder brother Sahib Ram Sihag was the first politician from the family who became Congress MLA from Hisar in 1938 and 1947.
This clan, once dominant at the State level and now in decline due to divisions and internal family squabbling in the large clan, is struggling to revive their statewide hold while still retaining some pockets of influence in Hisar and Sirsa area. The INLD founded by Devi Lal, split in 2018 after a bitter power struggle between his two grandsons Ajay Chautala and Abhay Chautala. The feud saw Ajay Chautala and his sons Dushyant and Digvijay being expelled from the party by Om Prakash Chautala.
Three family members of former Chief Minister Bansi Lal are in the poll fray this time as Congress nominees from three separate seats in Bhiwani district. His son 75-year-old Ranbir Singh Mahendra is contesting from Badhra seat on Congress ticket.
Mahendra, who is a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is facing JJP nominee Naina Chautala as his main rival. Bansi Lal's daughter-in law Kiran Chaudhary, who is senior Congress leader, has filed her nomination from Tosham seat. Chaudhary is the wife of Surender Singh, who died in helicopter crash in 2005. The Congress has also fielded Somvir Singh, son-in-law of Bansi Lal, from Loharu seat.
Bansi Lal served three separate terms as Chief Minister of Haryana from 1968–75, 1985–87, and 1996–99. Lal was considered a close confidante of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi during the Emergency era of 1975 -1977.
He also served as the Defence Minister from December 1975 to March 1977, and had a brief stint as a Minister without Portfolio in the Union government in 1975. He also held the Railways and Transport portfolios. He set up Haryana Vikas Party after parting ways with the Indian National Congress in 1996.
Bhajan Lal, who was the longest-serving Chief Minister of Haryana, handed over his political legacy to his son Kuldeep Bishnoi, who is seeking re-nomination from their traditional Adampur Assembly segment. His elder son Chander Mohan has been fielded by the Congress from the Panchkula Assembly seat. Chander Mohan is a four-time MLA from Kalka seat and former deputy chief minister of Haryana.
Bhajan Lal was first became the Chief Minister in 1979, again in 1982 and once again in 1991. He also served as Union Agricultural Minister, Environments & Forest portfolios during Rajiv Gandhi’s administration. After Indira Gandhi came to power in January 1980, Bhajan Lal was Janata Party's CM in Haryana; he immediately defected with a huge chunk of Janata Party's MLAs to Congress and continued as CM. This brazen act made him notorious as an exemplar of ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram’ culture in which opportunist politicians show no loyalty. He consolidated non-Jat vote in his Jat-dominated state, and was the last non-Jat CM of the 20th century. Full 18 years were to pass before BJP's Manohar Lal Khattar became Haryana's first non-Jat CM of 21st century in 2014.
Dr Anand Kumar, Associated Professor, Institute of Integrated and Honours Studies, Kurukshetra University said that the three Lals of Haryana, Bansi Lal, Bhajan Lal and Devi Lal, ruled the state for nearly three decades. Three-time chief minister Bansi Lal ruled for 13 years. Former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s two terms as CM lasted four-and-a-half years. Two-term CM Bhajan Lal, a non-Jat leader, who made headlines in 1980 when he as CM of the Janata Party government walked over to the Congress along with his cabinet, ruled the state for 11 years.
He further said, “During the first 33 years after Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966, its three Lals ruled for 28 years. From 1968-99, Bansi Lal was known to be tough and efficient while Devi Lal, who was rustic but awe-inspiring and Bhajan Lal, who almost always had his way; became the chief ministers of Haryana. The three Lals were never great adherents of principled politics. Rather, they were well-versed with the Haryana model of rough and ready politics.”
“The charisma of the three Lals has diminished and things have come to such a pass that the three families could find it difficult to save their own backyard from the BJP this time,” he said, adding today their clans fight their toughest battle for survival with the assembly elections in October. The rise of the BJP after its first solo victory in the 2014 assembly elections and the win in all 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State this May show just how the descendants of the three families have been pushed to the margins.
Kumar further the names of these leaders continue to have their sway on particular sections of the electorate, which has been providing poll leverage to their progeny as well. Despite putting Prem Lata, wife of former Union Minister and Rajaya Sabha member Birender Singh from Uchana Kalan in Jind district, the BJP continued to target dynastic politics in the State. The BJP’s narrative seems to be working, which has weakened the political power of the three Lal families. To counter the BJP’s narrative, political parties need to change their tact. Though former CMs enjoyed respect and influence in their respective segments, their legacy can be revived by highlighting their ideals instead of projecting the faces of their families, he added.