For 1st Time In Over 50 Years, Bhajan Lal’s Family Loses Haryana Stronghold

The Haryana Assembly poll results came as a shock to many dynasts who had entered the fray as many prominent faces had to bite the dust, though some emerged victorious.

Many family members of former chief ministers Bhajan Lal, Bansi Lal and Devi Lal had entered the fray.

For the first time in more than five decades, the Bhajan Lal family lost the Adampur seat in the Hisar district, the family’s traditional stronghold.

Prominent among those who lost include Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala, BJP’s Bhavya Bishnoi and JJP’s Dushyant Chautala, while the list of winners includes BJP’s Shruti Choudhry and Arti Rao Singh.

From the Adampur seat, the BJP had fielded former chief minister Bhajan Lal’s grandson and sitting MLA Bhavya Bishnoi, but he lost to Congress candidate Chander Prakash by a narrow margin of 1,268 votes. While Bhavya had won the seat in 2022 by-polls, the seat was earlier represented by his father Kuldeep Bishnoi and grandfather Bhajan Lal.

However, Bhavya’s uncle and Congress candidate Chander Mohan won from the Panchkula constituency against the Speaker of the outgoing Assembly and BJP sitting MLA Gian Chand Gupta.

While the members of Haryana’s three famous ‘Lals’ were in the race, with some even taking on each other, there were a few more from other prominent political families whose entry made the electoral battle interesting.

Ever since Haryana was carved out as a separate state way back in 1966, its politics has revolved for about three decades around the three ‘Lals’ — Devi Lal, popularly known as ‘Tau’ Devi Lal, Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal –” all of whom have served as the state’s chief ministers. Devi Lal also served as the country’s deputy prime minister.

The 90-member Haryana Assembly went to polls on Saturday while the results were declared on Tuesday.

The ruling BJP retained power in Haryana, winning 48 of the 89 seats it had contested in the 90-member House, while the Congress won 36 of the 89 it contested and was leading in one seat.

INLD won two seats while three were won by Independents.

The BJP did not contest the Sirsa seat, while the Congress left the Bhiwani seat for the CPI(M).

The Tosham Assembly seat in the Bhiwani district witnessed a clash between two grandchildren of Bansi Lal. Anirudh Chaudhry, a former treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), was defeated by his cousin and former MP Shruti Choudhry,” the BJP candidate.

Shruti Choudhry is the daughter of BJP leader Kiran Choudhry and Bansi Lal’s son Surender Singh, while Anirudh Chaudhry is the son of Ranbir Singh Mahendra. Mahendra, a former BCCI president, and Surender Singh were brothers.

The Tosham Assembly seat was represented by Kiran Choudhry but she quit as an MLA last month, after which the BJP nominated her for the Rajya Sabha by-poll from Haryana, which she won unopposed.

Devi Lal’s grandson and sitting INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala, whose party contested elections in alliance with the BSP, lost from the Ellenabad seat in the Sirsa district, while from Dabwali, Devi Lal’s grandson Aditya Devi Lal, an INLD candidate, won the seat.

JJP’s Digvijay Singh Chautala, great-grandson of the former deputy prime minister, was also in contest from Dabwali but he lost badly.

Aditya Devi Lal, who is the son of Jagdish, the youngest son of Devi Lal, quit the BJP and joined the INLD recently and was fielded from Dabwali.

Digvijay Singh Chautala is a JJP leader and former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala’s brother. The JJP, headed by Dushyant and Digvijay’s father and former MP Ajay Singh Chautala, contested the polls in alliance with Chandra Shekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), but the alliance failed to win a seat.

From the Rania seat in Sirsa, Ranjit Singh Chautala, former minister and Devi Lal’s son, who had quit the BJP recently after being denied ticket and had entered the fray as an independent candidate, lost. INLD candidate and Devi Lal’s great-grandson Arjun Chautala won from Rania. Arjun is the son of INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala.

Arjun defeated his nearest Congress rival, Sarv Mitter.

In Jind district’s Uchana Kalan, former deputy chief minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala, the sitting MLA, ended up on the fifth position. BJP’s Devender Attri defeated his nearest Congress rival Brijendra Singh by a narrow margin of 32 votes.

Earlier this year, bureaucrat-turned-politician Brijendra and his father and former Union minister Birender Singh left the BJP and joined the Congress.

Birender Singh is the maternal grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram, who was considered a messiah of farmers.

Another prominent political family’s members who entered the fray –” from Ateli in Mahendragarh as a BJP nominee — “was Arti Rao, whose father Rao Inderjit Singh is a senior leader of the party.

Arti defeated her nearest Bahujan Samaj Party rival Attar Lal by a margin of 3,085 votes.

A descendant of Ahir leader Rao Tula Ram, Rao Inderjit Singh, the son of former Haryana chief minister Rao Birender Singh, is an MP from Gurugram and a minister of state in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala’s son Aditya Surjewala, who had entered the contest as party nominee from Kaithal, won the seat defeating BJP’s sitting MLA Leela Ram.

Aditya is the grandson of Congress’ Shamsher Singh Surjewala, who represented Kaithal multiple times in the Assembly. Randeep has also been an MLA from the Kaithal constituency.