This Article is From Oct 09, 2009

Chautala & sons campaign in full swing

Sirsa, Haryana: The last time Haryana voted, it wiped out the Chautala's INLD from the map reducing them to eight seats in a house of 90.

Then came the washout in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

  • 2004 Assembly Polls: Won only 8 out of 90 seats
  • 2009 Lok Sabha Polls: Lost all 9 seats

Many blamed the defeats on the corrupt image of the Chautala family.

For the October 13 Assembly elections, the Chautala clan is fighting desperately to retain at least Sirsa.

For the October 13 Assembly elections, the family of former chief minister Devi Lal is campaigning in full swing.

To woo voters this time, the Chautalas have fallen back on the dead patriarch Devi Lal's work as chief minister, the infamously corrupt government he ran in 1987.

"Let's placate people. You must recollect Devi Lal's time. You have always helped us in difficult times," says INLD President and Devi Lal's son Om Prakash Chautala.

In this do-or-die election, a not-so-confident Om Prakash Chautala is contesting from two seats. He is the INLD candidate from Uchana Kalan and Ellenabad.

"Believe me you will not complain," says Ajay Singh, Om Prakash Chautala's son. He is the INLD candidate from Dabwali.

The grandsons too are busy pounding the dusty lanes.

 "I was in California, studying. It's good to be back to help," says Dushyant Singh, Om Prakash Chautala's grandson.

 "My younger brother Arjun has also arrived. Yes, he too is in school. He is in class XI. It's a tough election, but we will win,'' says Om Prakash Chautala's grandson Karn Singh. His lessons in votegiri have put his schooling in Bishop Cotton temporarily on hold.

Just a few years ago, the Chautalas dreamt of a pan-North India imprint. Haryana wasn't enough. They were fighting the UP and Rajasthan elections. Today, the Chautala clan realizes that in this battle, the spoils won't come easy.
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