Haryana polls: Grandchildren vie for Bansi Lal’s legacy in bitter battle for Tosham
Estranged cousins Shruti Choudhry (BJP) and Anirudh Chaudhary (Congress) face off for family stronghold of Tosham, while BJP rebel Shashi Ranjan Parmar, who is contesting as an Independent, threatens to play spoilsport.
Estranged cousins and grandchildren of Bansi Lal are fighting each other to wrest the family citadel of Tosham and legacy of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal.
The constituency has been a stronghold of the family as four-time CM Bansi Lal was elected from Tosham on six occasions, his younger son, Surender Singh, twice and Surender’s wife, Kiran Choudhry, four times.
While the daughter of Surender and Kiran, Shruti Choudhry, 48, is the BJP candidate for the October 5 Haryana election, the contest has become contentious with the entry of Anirudh Chaudhary, also 48, the son of Bansi Lal’s elder son, Ranbir Mahendra. BJP rebel Shashi Ranjan Parmar, 58, who is contesting as an Independent, is threatening to play the spoilsport.
Ranbir Mahendra and his sister-in-law, Kiran, had been embroiled in legal battles over claims of succession to Bansi Lal’s assets after his death in 2006.
Bhiwani-Mahendergarh BJP MP and former Congress leader Dharambir Singh, once a fierce rival of the Bansi Lal family who contested against the former CM and his son Surender on four occasions and defeated them twice, is backing Shruti this time as she is the party candidate.
Kiran won the seat on the Congress ticket in 2019 by 18,059 votes, defeating Parmar, then a BJP candidate.
The constituency’s caste distribution shows that Jats comprise about 33% of the population, Brahmins 10%, Rajputs 7%, Ahirs 4.5%, Khati 3.2%, Punjabi-Khatris 2.6%, Vaish 2%, Nai 1.9%, Gujjars 1.8% and Scheduled Castes 24%.
Located in the foothills of the Aravallis, Tosham’s landscape is dotted with sand dunes, hillocks and camels. Two stretches of the Aravallis in Khanak and Dadam revenue estates are centres of stone mining.
‘Unemployment major issue’
Campaigning door to door at Dinod village, Congress candidate Anirudh Chaudhary says it’s an honour to be contesting from the constituency his grandfather represented.
He says that unemployment is a big issue in Tosham. “It is a water-scarce area. Both irrigation and potable water are sparse. Proliferation of narcotics is a cause of concern, and the growing unemployment has only contributed towards the spread of drug abuse among youngsters,” he says
Criticising the BJP-led Centre’s Agnipath scheme, he says, “There was a time when one used to see youngsters undergoing physical training to prepare for recruitment in the armed forces. However, since 2022, the inclination to join security forces as Agniveers has decreased drastically.”
He says the Tosham election should not be billed as a contest between cousins or a family fight. “I see it as a contest between candidates of the Congress and the BJP. It is an election essentially being fought by the masses. People have had enough of the BJP. Farmers are distressed and have turned against the BJP. If you look around, you will find that every section adversely affected during the 10-year BJP rule in Haryana,” Anirudh Chaudhary says.
Asked about his cousin Shruti and aunt Kiran Chaudhary’s campaign, he says, “I focus on issues and my connect with the electorate. A lot of false propaganda is being spread against me. That does not bother me. Shruti is my sister and Kiran ji my aunt. I respect them. I also tell people to give them due regard but vote for me,” he says.
‘Development only agenda’
Campaigning at Laxmanpur, a Jat-dominated village, Anirudh’s cousin and BJP candidate Shruti Choudhry says she is seeking the mandate to continue with the momentum of development initiated by her grandfather and mother, who represented the constituency. “When I was the Lok Sabha MP from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh (of which Tosham is a part) in 2009, lot of funds from the central scheme were pumped in to augment water works in villages. My mother was the public health engineering minister in Haryana at that time and it helped,” she says after meeting a group of families.
Setting up of the Chaudhary Bansi Lal University and the upcoming medical college in Bhiwani were the family’s initiatives, she says. “We will take things forward and keep the momentum going. Development is my only agenda,” she says.
Asked about the contest with her cousin, she says, “Anirudh and his father were never a part of this scenario. They are new to this terrain. Anirudh’s father used to contest from Mundhal and Badhra. They have just cropped up to usurp my grandfather’s legacy. But people know the truth.”
On quitting the Congress and joining the BJP, Shruti says her mother and she made the right choice at the right moment. “The Congress has finished itself on the ground. It has no organisation and has lost its vision. When Bhupinder Singh Hooda was chief minister, he stalled many projects in this area and weakened the Congress. My grandfather used to say as CM, one needs a broader vision,” she says as her motorcade heads to Kharkhari Sohan village.
Challenges for new MLA
Jaibir Singh of Riwasa village says that robbing youngsters from the area of a stable employment opportunity by introducing Agnipath scheme, growing unemployment, farmers unrest and water scarcity would be some of the issues influencing the voting patten in Tosham. Ved Prakash of Dinod village says that development of this constituency, including finding ways to overcome the water scarcity, would be a challenge for the new MLA.
Constituency profile
Total voters: 2,23,609
Male: 1,19,469
Female: 1,04,139
Transgender: One
Prominent contestants: Shruti Choudhry (BJP), Anirudh Chaudhary (Congress), Shashi Ranjan Parmar (Independent), Om Singh (BSP), Rajesh Bhardwaj (JJP)
Contest: Head-to-Head
Factors at play: Water scarcity, Agnipath scheme, unemployment, farmers’ anger, Bansi Lal’s legacy, BJP dissident.
Past elections
2005: Surender Singh (Congress)
2009: Kiran Choudhry (Congress)
2014: Kiran Choudhry (Congress)
2019: Kiran Choudhry (Congress)