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Baroda bypoll: Three generations of Devi Lal’s family canvassing for BJP candidate
Despite political differences, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) patriarch Ajay Singh Chautala, his son Digvijay Singh Chautala, cousin Aditya Chautala, who is the BJP’s Sirsa district chief and their uncle Ranjit Singh Chautala, who is the power and jails minister in the BJP-JJP coalition government, are targeting guns at the Congress during the election campaign.
Three generations of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal’s family is canvassing for BJP candidate Yogeshwar Dutt in the Baroda bypoll, slated for November 3. Dutt is pitted against Indu Raj Narwal of the Congress, Raj Kumar Saini of the Loktantra Suraksha Party and Joginder Singh Malik of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
Despite political differences, Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) patriarch Ajay Singh Chautala, his son Digvijay Singh Chautala, cousin Aditya Chautala, who is the BJP’s Sirsa district chief and their uncle Ranjit Singh Chautala, who is the power and jails minister in the BJP-JJP coalition government, are targeting guns at the Congress during the election campaign.
It is for the first time that Aditya, Ajay Chautala and Ranjit Singh Chautala are canvassing for a common candidate against the nominee of the INLD, which is headed by former Haryana chief minister OP Chautala and his son Abhay Singh Chautala. Deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala will join his father Ajay, uncle Aditya and grand uncle Ranjit Chautala to canvass against his old party’s nominee Joginder Singh Malik on October 30 and 31.
Abhay, OP Chautala put efforts to retrieve party’s stature
INLD supremo OP Chautala and his son Abhay Singh Chautala have been making efforts to retrieve their party’s stature, which saw its worst performance in the 2019 assembly polls. Abhay was the sole winner from the INLD.
OP Chautala said after the Baroda bypoll, the BJP-JJP government will fall on its own and the traitors (Dushyant Chautala and his mother Naina Chautala) will have no option rather than merging their party into the BJP.
“The Baroda seat was dominated by our party from 1977 to 2005 and this time the voters have made up their mind to elect our nominee Malik. I urge you to strengthen my hands and I promise to give a farmer friendly environment in the state,” he added.
Anant Ram, retired professor of political science at the government college in Bhiwani, said the BJP is bringing Chautala clan to campaign for their candidate to woo Jat voters, which constitute 52% in the Baroda constituency and most are dependent on agriculture.
“However, OP Chautala and his son Abhay are also focusing on the same vote bank to retrieve their party’s stature. It is evident that Aditya, Ranjit and Ajay Chautala’s families have huge political differences but surprisingly they will have to support Yogeshwar Dutt as the BJP is running the government with the help of independents and JJP,” he added.
Differences in Chautala clan
The differences between OP Chautala and his brother Ranjit Singh erupted in 1989 when Devi Lal preferred the former as his political heir by choosing him as the chief minister. However, following a family feud, OP Chautala ousted Ajay and his both sons—Digvijay and Dushyant—from the INLD. Later, both Digvijay and Dushyant formed the JJP. The differences came to fore between Aditya and his cousin Abhay Singh, when the former defeated Abhay’s wife in the Zila parishad elections in 2016.
