There are many unconfirmed stories doing the round inHaryana these days about former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, nowlanguishing in Tihar jail for his involvement in a scam related to recruitmentof teachers. One such story relates to his bullying and self-seeking nature asa child. According to this tale, narrated by an elderly villager of Sirsadistrict in Haryana, on the first day as a student at the Sagaria villageschool, Chuatala broke the queue and was the first to grab the meal meant fordistribution among students. “This boy would be difficult to stop,” his teacherhad remarked then.
The story may be apocryphal but it certainly does define theessential characteristic of the man who remained at the helm of Haryana’saffairs for five terms. Chautala’s ascension in politics began in 1990 with abang. He was accused of being a key player in organising violence in Meham, infact taking it to a new level, resulting in cancellation of the by-election. Whenthe elections were scheduled for a second time, one of the key contestants,Amar Singh, was killed.
There were allegations of Chautala’s involvement in allcrimes related to that election but the man himself remained unfazed. There has been little change in theintervening years. In fact, crime and politics have never been alien toChautala’s background. Few would know that Chautala’s daughter-in-law (sonAbhay Chautala’s wife) died in mysterious circumstances. His name figured in aracket conducting contraband caused great embarrassment to his father,prominent Jat leader Chaudhary Devi Lal.
Chautala has always been a trouble-monger for his father,who, despite his mercurial politics, was known to maintain an honest image androse to become the country’s deputy prime minister in 1989. Devi Lal belongedto a genre of leaders who were totally devoted to politics and oblivious oftheir family obligations.
Those close to the family admit that Chautala shouldered theresponsibility of educating his siblings and running the family. However, hisfather often disapproved of his wayward behaviour. After his father’s death,Chautala was quick to inherit the mantle and monopolised the political spacevacated. He never allowed other family members to share Devi Lal’s legacy andpassed on the baton to his own sons.
There were several leaders — like Ran Singh Maan, HiranandArya Kishen Singh Sangwan and Raghubir Kadiyan, among others — who workedclosely with Devi Lal. But Chautala deftly sidelined them all.
It was a twist of irony that Chautala’s way to power waspaved by the BJP, which claimed to be the “party with a difference”. In 1999,the BJP forged an alliance with Chautala to share power post-assembly electionsin 2000. Despite his five terms as chief minister, Chautala completed his termonly once (2000-05) because of the BJP’s help.
His term marked persecution of honest officials, gagging themedia and bullying the bureaucracy to run Haryana like his fiefdom. His nameeven figured in the killing of a journalist. The BJP, meanwhile, played alongamid all this. There are many cases of land-grabbing against Chautala and hisfamily members in Haryana. His intricate links with shifty characters could bejudged by the fact that he roped in Gopal Kanda into politics. Kanda later roseto become the deputy minister of home in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regimebefore being arrested for the suicide of airhostess Geetika Sharma.
His son’s name also figured in match-fixing along withbookie Parvinder Arora, who was murdered subsequently. The Chautalas are saidto have alienated themselves from the people with their escapades and theirshady dealings, and he successively lost elections in the state.
For now, Chautala is facing a probe by the CBI againsthimself and family members for amassing wealth disproportionate to knownsources of income. According to the CBI chargesheet, the Chautalas bought70-odd properties across the country between 1993 and 2006. His name figured inscams related to recruitment of Haryana civil services officials and 1,600constables. He was also accused of protecting and encouraging corruptbureaucrats and police officers.
There are many allegations against Chautala but given thecaste-driven and volatile nature of politics in Haryana, it would be ratherpremature to write him off from the state politics despite his sojourn withTihar.
Arun Kumar is a senior Haryana-based journalist
