Om Prakash Chautala: Stalwart of Indian politics, who had his share of controversies

Chandigarh: Om Prakash Chautala was a tall figure in Indian politics and a prominent leader of the Jat community, but his career was marked with controversies and jail term.

Born on January 1, 1935, Chautala, a five-time Haryana chief minister, passed away in Gurugram on Friday at the age of 89.

Born into an influential political family, Chautala was the eldest son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal and headed the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a party founded by his father.

Chautala's father was a tall figure in Indian politics. Devi Lal had also served as chief minister of Haryana and was considered a messiah of farmers.

Though Chautala could never match the stature his father enjoyed, he was known for his sharp political acumen and wit despite not being well-educated.

Chautala served as chief minister of the state for five terms, though it was between 1999 and 2005 that he enjoyed a full term. In between, right from 1989 to July 1999, he served intermittent terms in office.

When Devi Lal became deputy prime minister in the Janata Dal government in 1989, it was Chautala who became the chief minister.

He remained MLA for six terms and was elected for the first time in 1970 from Ellenabad from Sirsa, what was considered a stronghold of the Chautala family.

He also represented Narwana, Uchan, Darba Kalan and Rori.

Chautala's younger brothers Pratap and Ranjit Chautala also remained MLAs while another brother Jagdish's son Aditya Devi Lal is a sitting INLD MLA.

Chautala's two sons Abhay and Ajay and their sons are also into politics.

Chautala had a fair share of controversies.

In 1990, Meham assembly seat remained in national news after large-scale violence. The opposition had then accused Chautala of trying to force his victory there. The episode became infamous in Haryana's politics as "Meham Kand". Later, the polls on the seat had to be postponed three times.

The Meham incident occurred following the killing of a rebel Lok Dal leader and seven others in the violence which ensued.

Between 1989-91, Chautala served as chief minister for short terms. It was in 1999 that he enjoyed a full term. During this, the BJP was an ally of the INLD, though it was not part of the government. The INLD remained an ally of the NDA at the Centre then but the ties broke before the 2005 Haryana assembly polls.

He served as chief minister from December 1989 to May 1990, July 12 1990 to July 17, 1990 and from March 1991 to April 6, 1991 and again between July 1999 to February 2005.

After 2005, the INLD never came to power in Haryana and its graph over the years continued to slide following electoral reverses.

In December 2018, Chautala's elder son Ajay Chautala floated Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) after a vertical split in the INLD following a family feud. The JJP, later extended support to the BJP in 2019 when the saffron outfit fell short of majority in the assembly polls.

But the alliance broke in March 2024 when the BJP replaced Manohar Lal Khattar with Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister.

The major setback for Chautala came when he was jailed in 2013 in connection with a teacher recruitment scam.

At that time, Chautala, his son Ajay and 53 others, including an IAS officer, were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000 when the INLD was in power.

They all were sentenced to varying jail terms in the case by a special CBI court in January 2013.

While serving a 10-year prison term in a teacher recruitment scam case, Chautala was released from Delhi's Tihar Jail in July 2021. At that time, he was already out on parole.

Later in May 2022, he was again sent to the Tihar Jail after he was awarded a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets (DA) case. Like before, he was lodged in jail number 2 and became the oldest inmate in the prison at 87.

In August 2002, the Delhi High Court suspended the four-year sentence to Chautala during the pendency of his appeal against the conviction in the DA case.

During the INLD government in 2002, Chautala-led dispensation came under fire from various quarters when nine farmers died in police firing on agitating farmers at Kandela village in Jind district.

In the full-fledged term as chief minister, Chautala's "Sarkar Aapke Dwar" programme was a major initiative of the INLD government. The chief minister visited every village, asking people about their needs and taking decisions on the spot while acting on their demands.

At the ripe old age of 82, Chautala passed his higher secondary examination in the first division, while serving out a 10-year sentence in the Tihar Jail.

Chautala's younger son Abhay Singh Chautala is a senior leader of the INLD while Ajay, a former MP, heads the JJP.

Abhay's son Arjun is a Haryana MLA while Ajay sons Dushyant and Digvijay are JJP leaders. Dushyant also served as Haryana's deputy chief minister when Khattar was the chief minister.

Chautala's daughter-in-law and Ajay's wife Naina Chautala also remained an MLA from the JJP.