Dushyant Chautala A king maker in 2019, Dushyant Chautala ’s JJP came a cropper. Chautala himself finished fifth in Uchana Kalan with less than 5% votes and was among 65 party candidates who lost their deposit. In the previous BJP-led govt in Haryana, Dushyant Chautala was deputy CM, a post he retained until six months ago when his party, Jannayak Janata Party or JJP, severed ties with the BJP.
A majority of his MLAs left him soon thereafter, but the state polls were his big hope for a comeback. As the results rolled out on Tuesday, it became clear that this grandson of ex-CM Om Prakash Chautala and great-grandson of ex-deputy PM Devi Lal had lost even his deposit from the Uchana Kalan seat. Worse, the JJP has not won a single seat, and its vote share has dropped from 15% to less than 1%.
Some consolation for dynastic democracy, though, is that the state’s three influential families of former CMs — Devi Lal, Bansi Lal, and Bhajan Lal — have managed to secure berths in the assembly. One member from each of the Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal families and two members from Devi Lal’s family have made it to the legislature. Former CM Bhajan Lal’s son Chander Mohan (Panchkula), former deputy PM Devi Lal’s grandson Aditya Devi Lal (Dabwali), great-grandson Arjun Chautala (Rania) and former CM Bansi Lal’s grand-daughter Shruti Chaudhary (Tosham) emerged victorious.
The Bhajan Lal family, however, suffered a major setback as Bhavya Bishnoi, grandson of Bhajan Lal and Kuldeep.
