When it comes to Haryana, Bhajan Lal’s name cannot be missed. Lal who represents the non-Jat caste groups, has served as the Haryana Chief Minister twice- from 1979 to 1985 and from 1991 to 1996.
A stalwart in state politics, he also made his presence felt on the national scene by holding the portfolios of Agriculture and Environments & Forest in Rajiv Gandhi’s Cabinet.
Born on October 6, 1930 in Koranwali region of the Bahawalpur district which is now in Pakistan, he is credited to have defeated Sampat Singh and Jai Prakash, who are strong forces of Haryana politics, from his constituency of Hissar.
Bhajan Lal formed his own party – Haryana Janhit Congress, in 2007. This was because Congress’ victory in the 2005 Assembly polls led to factionalism following the suspension of his son Kuldeep Bishnoi from the party. His younger son Chander Mohan alias Chand Mohammad, who has also served as the Deputy Chief Minister, remained with Congress party as an MLA.
Bhajan Lal fighting from Hissar, won the last Lok Sabha polls on his party ticket.
OP Chautala
The son of late Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, Om Prakash Chautala who was born on January 1, 1935 has been the Chief Minister of the state for a record five times.
The chief of the Indian National Lok Dal, Chautala is credited with the initiation of high scale urban development work in Gurgaon during his tenure as Chief Minister.
A politician who has traveled across the globe, Chautala was elected to the state assembly six times: in 1970, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2000 and 2005. He remained a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1987 to 1990.
In the 2005 Haryana state assembly elections, INLD lost its majority, winning just 9 out of the 90 seats compared to Congress party`s 67 seats. Subsequently, Chautala had to resign, paving way for Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Chautala was also implicated in a teachers’ recruitment scam in 2005 when an IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar filed an application before the Supreme Court alleging that he and his two sons had provided jobs to 3,000 applicants by taking money.
Bhupinder Singh Hooda
Known for breaking the “Lal” bastion in Haryana politics, Bhupinder Singh Hooda who has been a Lok Sabha MP for four terms in 1991, 1996, 1998, 2004 and the Leader of Opposition in Haryana`s Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2004 is the present Chief Minister of the state.
He was born on September 15, 1947 in Rohtak’s Sanghi village and from 1996 to 2001 served as the president of Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee.
A member of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana, Hooda is renowned for leading farmer movements and is also known for defeating Devi Lal in electoral battles.
During 2002-2004 he was the Leader of Opposition in Haryana assembly and in 2005 was elected to the 10th Haryana Vidhan Sabha (by-election from Kiloi) with a record margin of 1,03,635 votes. Following that he became the Chief Minister.
Krishan Pal Gurjar
A non-Jat OBC leader Krishan Pal Gurjar became the Haryana BJP’s chief
when Atam Prakash Manchanda resigned from the post of party president on account of mounting pressure to accept responsibility for the poor performance of the BJP in the Lok Sabha poll.
Gurjar is known to be a close confidante of senior BJP politician Sushma Swaraj.
His entry into active politics began with his joining of the Indian National Lok Dal –INLD. Subsequently in 1991 he joined the BJP and rose to be the Transport Minister in 1996 in the Bansi Lal-led Haryana Vikas Party-BJP government.
Following that in 2000, he was again elected from Mewla Maharajapur in Faridabad at a time when the BJP-INLD united in an alliance. During this tenure of the BJP-INLD government in the state, Gurjar was a vociferous critic of the then Chief Minister, O P Chautala. But later the relations between the two improved.
A powerful candidate from Tigaon constituency Gurjar has a strong local and rural base.
