This Article is From Oct 20, 2014

Haryana, Not Yet 50, Has a Young New Assembly

Haryana, Not Yet 50, Has a Young New Assembly

Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, the front runner for Chief Minister's post in Haryana

Chandigarh: Haryana's new assembly is young. Relatively. And if the BJP picks Captain Abhimanyu from among its three front-runners for chief minister tomorrow, the state will also have a young chief minister.

44 of the 90 newly elected legislators are 50 years old or less. The youngest is the BJP's 29-year-old Sukhvinder, a giant killer who won from Badhra. He beat Ranbir Singh Mahendra of the Congress, a former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president and son of former chief minister Bansi Lal.

Even the oldest, Hari Chand Middha of the Indian National Lok Dal or INLD, who won from Jind, is at 72, not among the oldest Indian politicians.

The BJP, which is prepping to form government in the state after winning 47 seats yesterday, has 23 legislators under 50. The INLD has 12 and the Congress has four.   

Among the three leaders reportedly being assessed for CM is Captain Abhimanyu Singh Sindhu, 47, a former Army man who won from Narnaund. The young leader had reportedly been deputed specifically by BJP chief Amit Shah to revive the party in Haryana.

Among the young ones is Haryana's first legislator couple Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) president Kuldeep Bishnoi, 46, and his wife Renuka Bishnoi, 40. Both have been legislators before at different times but have never been members of the same assembly.   

INLD leader Abhay Chautala is 49 and his sister-in-law Naina Chautala, a first time MLA is 47. INLD would have given the Haryana house its youngest legislator had Ms Naina's son Dushyant, 26, won. He is a Lok Sabha MP who contested the assembly elections.  

The INLD, with 19 legislators, will be the principal opposition in the state.

Haryana is not 50 yet either; it came into being on November 1, 1966, and will be 48 next month.

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