By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Chandigarh : It will be a rare sight in Indian politics when a father and his two sons sit side by side in the same state assembly. Haryana will provide that sight, thanks to the Chautala trio – former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and his two sons, Ajay Singh and Abhay Singh.
They will enter the assembly together for the budget session next month.
While the former chief minister and elder son Ajay are already members of the assembly, having been elected in the October elections, Abhay got elected to the assembly Saturday. He won the Ellenabad assembly seat in a byelection, defeating Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal by 6,227 votes.
The seat was vacated by Om Prakash Chautala, president of the main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), as he was elected in the October polls from two seats, Uchana Kalan and Ellenabad.
The latest victory for the Chautalas has given a double blow to the ruling Congress in the state.
One, the Congress government led by chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, lost the first byelection held just three months after it came to office for a second time.
Secondly, and more importantly for the Congress, the INLD victory in Ellenabad stopped the Congress from getting a simple majority in the 90-member assembly.
The Congress strength in the house now remains at 45 legislators – just at the halfway mark and one short of a simple majority on its own. This figure includes five Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) – the party floated by former chief minister Bhajan Lal and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi – legislators who defected and were controversially allowed to join the Congress two months ago.
Even though the Hooda government does not face any immediate instability or political threat to its existence since it has the support of seven independents and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator in the assembly, the party would have loved to steer clear in the numbers game.
The combined strength for the Congress government, including the independents and others, comes to 53 legislators.
The INLD strength has gone up to 31 legislators. The party also has political ally Akali Dal with one seat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which once was in alliance with the INLD, has four legislators in the house.
While the Chautalas are basking in the glory of their byelection victory, the politically wounded Congress is drawing solace from the fact that between the Oct 13 and Jan 20 elections, the victory margin of the Chautala family went down by over 10,000 votes in just three months.
Chautala senior had won the seat by 16,400 votes in the Oct 13 elections while his son Abhay managed to win by only 6,227 votes.
(Jaideep Sarin can be contacted at [email protected])