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Haryana polls: Veteran faces new blood in Rania’s political arena
After Dabwali, Rania is the second segment in the upcoming Haryana elections where the Devi Lal clan is in the direct electoral contest
In the Rania assembly constituency, seated in the heart of Haryana’s Bagri belt, a fierce showdown is brewing as veteran politician Ranjit Singh Chautala, a former cabinet minister under the BJP, faces off against two ambitious newcomers — one from his own family.
The estranged youngest brother of former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, Ranjit remained in the Congress for decades, but in 2019, contested as an Independent and won from this rural seat. He supported the BJP after the saffron fold fell short of the majority mark in the House of 90 legislators.
Then chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar accommodated Ranjit in the state cabinet, awarding him the twin portfolios of power and prisons. Ranjit was eventually inducted into the BJP when he was asked to contest for the Hisar Lok Sabha seat on the party symbol this year.
After facing a defeat by 63,000 votes from Congress heavyweight Jai Prakash, Ranjit abandoned the BJP after it decided not to field him from Rania, choosing again to contest as an Independent.
Devi Lal clan in direct contest
After Dabwali, this is the second segment where the Devi Lal clan is in direct electoral contest.
Ranjit’s grandnephew Arjun Chautala has been fielded by the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) while the Congress is relying upon Sarv Mitter Kamboj, a YouTube journalist.
This time, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), a breakaway faction of the INLD floated by Ranjit’s nephew and former legislator Ajay Singh Chautala, has extended support to him and has not fielded its candidate from Rania.
MP Chandrashekhar Azad from JJP’s ally Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) has campaigned in Rania to consolidate the Dalit electorate’s support for Ranjit.
Having been part of the BJP government, both the JJP and Ranjit were left feeling dejected after the saffron leadership abruptly snapped political ties with them.
While former deputy chief minister and JJP leader Dushyant Chautala terms his decision of going with the BJP a “mistake”, Ranjit, who is contesting with the official support of the JJP, remains non-committal on not supporting the BJP again in case of a hung assembly.
“I am confident that the people of Rania will again support me and a future course of action will be taken on the decision of my supporters. My term as the minister in the BJP government was excellent and I introduced a lot of development works for the constituency that I have been nurturing for decades,” he replies to a question during electioneering.
At a meeting with his supporters at Chamal village, Ranjit faced resentment when two persons expressed displeasure over his resignation as Rania MLA to contest the Hisar Lok Sabha polls as the BJP nominee.
“They are my backbone and I respect their opinions. But there was no widespread resentment, as I worked to improve irrigation facilities and make the rural road network better. I always remained available to the people of my constituency without any consideration to their political affiliation,” says the 79-year-old leader.
He invokes the legacy of his father late Devi Lal, former deputy prime minister, to woo voters.
Rania is one of the five assembly segments in the Sirsa district. In 2009, the segment was carved out of Ellenabad, a traditional INLD bastion.
In the first two elections in 2009 and 2014, INLD candidates emerged victorious in this constituency.
The veteran leader discusses the caste equation in fluent English to claim his better prospects, and focuses on person-to-person contact with electorates.
“This constituency has a predominance of Jat voters that constitutes about 35% electors, followed by the Prajapat and Kamboj communities. The segment has a sizeable presence of Dalits and I have good relations with the community leaders. In the Hisar parliamentary elections, two bahus or daughters-in-law of our extended family — Naina Chautala of the JJP and Sunaina Chautala of the INLD — were my electoral rivals, but later Naina and her family members extended to support me. Bachon ne pyar aur samman se kaha aur an election bhi sambhal rahe hain,” he adds.
Door-to-door connect
A fourth generation politician from the Devi Lal clan, 32-year-old Arjun Chautala, the INLD nominee, is contesting the assembly elections for the first time.
Son of INLD general secretary Abhay Chautala, Arjun had earlier unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha election in 2019 from the Kurukshetra seat.
At that time, he secured only 60,679 votes and finished fifth.
Arjun, who studied up to Class 12 at the prestigious Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, is being assisted by his friends and senior party leaders in canvassing.
He terms his electioneering as “apno se milan”, where the INLD leader emphasises meeting villagers at their homes.
Arjun makes it a point to touch the feet of the elderly and greets others with folded hands at Sultanpuria village, where groups of INLD supporters organised a welcome for the young leader.
In chaste Bagri, he appeals for electoral support, citing his vision to develop the mofussil belt of the state.
In a crisp conservation, Arjun says he is well aware of a popular opinion about his father Abhay Chautala’s short temperament.
“Par main thande swabhav ka aadmi hoon. Apne nanihal se mila hai yeh swabhav aur logon se bahut pyar mil raha hai,” says Arjun with glee on his face, adding that his father’s frank talk is due to his proximity with the electorates.
Arjun says INLD feels no challenge from his grand-uncle Ranjit Chautala and the Congress nominee.
“I may have studied in a top school in the hills, but my family has taught me to remain grounded and remain connected with the committed party workers. I feel at home meeting villagers who deserve better facilities for irrigation and healthcare. The area also needs an industrial push to generate employment opportunities,” he adds.
From reporting to political rallying
Journalist-turned-electoral greenhorn Sarv Mittar Kamboj, 50, of the Congress highlights his YouTube content and his party’s legacy to get votes.
Political watchers say Kamboj joined the party just two months ago and he was preferred over the claims of more than two dozen applicants of the Congress leaders active in the constituency for the last several years. An observer opines that the absence of Sirsa MP Kumari Selja due to the Congress infighting may dent the party’s prospects.
At a dusty village of Ghodanwali, Kamboj shies away from a question on how he joined the Congress and the party considered him a better candidate than the veterans.
“Mojdin is my native village (part of Rania) and I am well aware of the issues of the region. I am getting full support from the party leadership and they are organising nukkar meetings, small rallies and door-to-door canvassing,” he added.
In his speeches, Kamboj tells the party supporters that the Congress is in a direct fight with the INLD while Independent Ranjit Chautala has lost the confidence of voters as he kept hopping parties.
“Ranjit has no political loyalty and he stood with the BJP who was responsible for introducing anti-farmer laws. In the last 10 years of its rule, the BJP government ignored Rania and the claims of huge spending on the developments are shallow statements. Being a journalist, I know that INLD has a secret alliance with the BJP as they deserve to be punished electorally again. Rania is an underdeveloped area and it should be upgraded to an administrative subdivision,” he says.
