Haryana Assembly elections: It's all in the family

New Delhi: Election is a big family business in Haryana. It is a fact that politics is controlled by only a handful of families in many other states, not just in Haryana. But the involvement of some political families is much deeper in Haryana.

Earlier the famous three 'Lals' ruled Haryana by turn for decades. Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal were synonymous with Haryana politics for almost four decades. While Devi Lal and Bansi Lal were Jats, the dominant caste in Haryana, Bhajan Lal was from Bishnoi community.

Bhajan Lal used to claim that he is a PhD in politics and gave birth to 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram' idiom in Indian politics. All the three Lals have died in the last 15 years and their respective families are still controlling the Haryana politics.

Devi Lal's son Om Prakash Chautala was the chief minister and is now cooling his heels in jail in corruption cases. His son Ajay Chautala is also serving a 10 year jail term with his father.

Another son Abhay Chautala is holding the fort in the absence of father and brother. His nephew Dushyant Chautala has entered Parliament by defeating Bhajan Lal's son and former MP Kuldeep Bishnoi in the recent Lok Sabha election.

The INLD of Chautalas is claiming that if the party wins the current assembly elections, OP Chautala will take oath as the chief minister from the jail. But, the new law makes him ineligible to contest in an election. But, the law is ambiguous on whether a convict can become chief minister.

According to the Constitution, anybody can become the chief minister, provided he or she gets elected to the state legislature within six months of his or her appointment. According to ground reports, the INLD is showing signs of recovery and unlikely to concede defeat so easily even though the party has lost two consecutive elections since 2005.

Bansi Lal's elder son and a minister Surinder Singh died in an accident. His wife Kiran Chaudhury is a minister in the Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Her daughter Shruti Chaudhury had won the 2009 Lok Sabha election. She lost the recent Lok Sabha election and likely to contest in the assembly elections. Bansi Lal's another son Ranbir Singh Mahindra was the chairman of BCCI and is into politics.

After the death of Bhajan Lal, the party mantle has fallen on his younger son Kuldip Bishnoi. Bishnoi, a former MP is now heading the family run party - the HJC. His elder brother and former Haryana deputy chief minister Chandramohan has also joined his party after reconverting to Hinduism from Islam. He had converted to Islam to marry for the second time without divorcing his first wife.

Kuldip Bishnoi's wife is already an MLA. Even Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is also running his own dynastic politics. His son Dipender Singh Hooda is the only Congress candidate who could beat the Modi wave from Haryana in the recent Lok Sabha election. Hooda family virtually controls the Rohtak-Faridabad region.

It will be interesting to see the total number of family members trying their luck in the October 15 Assembly election and eventually becoming a MLA.