Om Prakash Chautala, president of the Indian National Lok Dal and five-time Chief Minister of Haryana, died on Friday at the age of 89. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the demise of Om Prakash Chautala. He was the father of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal Chautala. Modi expressed condolences to his family members and supporters.
Expressing grief, Modi said, “He (Chautala) remained active in state politics for many years and made continuous efforts to carry forward the work of Devi Lal.”
Chautala, son of former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, suffered a heart attack at his home here and was immediately taken to the hospital, but could not be saved, a party spokesperson said. He breathed his last at Medanta Hospital at around 12 noon, a senior police officer said.
Chautala, who hails from a prominent political family of Haryana and is the face of a major regional party, was suffering from age-related health problems for some time. He is survived by two sons and three daughters. His wife Sneh Lata died five years ago.
Many leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, expressed grief over Chautala’s demise.
Expressing grief, Modi said, “He (Chautala) remained active in state politics for many years and made continuous efforts to carry forward the work of Devi Lal.”
Saini said that the demise of INLD supremo is extremely sad. He said, “My humble tribute to him. He served the state and society throughout his life. This is an irreparable loss for the country and the politics of Haryana state.”
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupendra Singh Hooda reminded that when Chautala was the Chief Minister, he was the leader of the opposition in the Haryana Assembly.
Chautala served the people of the state. She said that she has many good memories with him and he was like her elder brother. Congress leaders Randeep Singh Hooda and Kumari Seja also condoled Chautala’s demise.
Born on January 1, 1935, Om Prakash Chautala was the eldest of the five children of former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal.
Chautala had left studies after primary education. In 2013, when Chautala was lodged in Tihar jail in connection with the teacher recruitment scam, he had passed the 10th and then 12th examinations at the age of 82.
He was sent to jail in 2013 in the teacher recruitment scam case and was released in 2021.
Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala and IAS officer Sanjeev Kumar, along with 53 others, were convicted and sentenced in the case of illegal recruitment of 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000.
The former Haryana chief minister’s younger son Abhay Singh Chautala is a senior leader of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), while elder son Ajay Singh Chautala, a former MP, heads the Jannayak Janata Party, which was formed in December 2018 after a family feud. It happened after the partition of India.
Abhay’s son Arjun is a Haryana MLA while Ajay Chautala’s sons Dushyant and Digvijay are JJP leaders. Dushyant Chautala has also been the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana.
Chautala’s party INLD has also been an ally of BJP in the past. INLD has been out of power in Haryana since 2005.
