Former Haryana CM Om Prakash Chautala dies

PTI, Dec 20, 2024, 12:49 PM IST

Om Prakash Chautala (pti/file)

Gurugram: Indian National Lok Dal president and five-time Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala died here on Friday, December 20, at the age of 89.

Chautala, who was former deputy prime minister Devi Lal’s son, suffered a cardiac arrest at his house here and was immediately rushed to a hospital but could not be saved, a party spokesperson told PTI.

He breathed his last at around 12 noon in Medanta hospital, a senior police officer said.

Chautala, who came from a prominent political family in Haryana and was face of a prominent regional outfit, had been facing age-related health issues in the recent past.

He is survived by two sons and three daughters. His wife Sneh Lata had passed away over five years ago.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini were among a host of leaders who condoled the demise of Chautala.

Expressing grief, Modi said on X, “He (Chautala) was active in the state politics for many years and strove constantly to advance the work of Devi Lal.” Saini said the demise of the INLD supremo is extremely sad.

“My humble tribute to him. He served the state and society throughout his life. This is an irreparable loss for the politics of the country and Haryana state,” Saini said on X.

Former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda recalled that when Chautala was the chief minister, he was the Leader of Opposition in the Haryana assembly.

Chautala served the people of the state. There are many good memories with him, he said, adding that he was like his elder brother.

Congress leader Randeep Singh Hooda and Kumari Seja also condoled the death of Chautala.

Born on January 1, 1935, Om Prakash Chautala was the eldest of the five children of former deputy prime minister Chaudhary Devi Lal.

Chautala left studies after primary education. In 2013, when Chautala was lodged in Tihar Jail in connection with the teacher recruitment scam, he passed the class 10 and then class 12 examination at the age of 82.

He was jailed in 2013 in connection with the teacher recruitment scam case and released in 2021.

Chautala, his son Ajay Chautala, and 53 others, including IAS officer Sanjiv Kumar, 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 one Ajay Singh Chautala, a former MP, heads the Jannayak Janta Party, which was born after a vertical split in the party in December 2018 after a family feud.

Abhay’s son Arjun is a Haryana MLA while Ajay Chautala’s sons Dushyant and Digvijay are JJP leaders. Dushyant Chautala also served as Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister.

Chautala’s party INLD had also remained an ally of BJP in the past. The INDL has been out of power since 2005 in Haryana.