Haryana elections: Setback for Chautala clan; Abhay Singh, Dushyant trail

The Haryana Assembly elections are shaping up as an unpredictable contested battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress, with the BJP making a comeback after initially trailing. The saffron party is ahead on 50 seats, while the Congress on 36, the 11:30 am trends showed.

However, the polls may prove a significant setback for regional players Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which are both facing a potential wipeout. INLD is leading on two seats, while JJP is ahead on none, according to the trends.

Both parties are led by members of the Chautala family, once a highly influential force in Haryana politics. Indian National Lok Dal general secretary Abhay Singh Chautala is contesting to retain his Ellenabad seat in Sirsa. He is currently trailing from the seat by a margin of over 5,700 votes. Congress' Bharat Beniwal is leading from here, according to 11:30 am trends.

His nephew, former Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala, a JJP leader, is contesting from Uchana. JJP has allied with Chandra Shekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) to attract Dalit voters. INLD has similarly joined forces with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Haryana has 17 reserved Assembly seats.

Dushyant is also trailing from Uchana seat by a margin of 15,000 votes, the 11:30 am trends showed.

Abhay Chautala’s uncle, 79-year-old Ranjit Chautala, had aligned with BJP and was a minister in the outgoing cabinet. However, he chose to contest independently from the Rania seat after BJP denied him a ticket. "I am Chaudhary Devi Lal’s son. I have some stature... I have decided to contest as an Independent," he had said.

Ranjit Chautala is trailing in the Rania seat by over 2,000 votes, according to the 10am trends. In this seat, Abhay Singh’s son Arjun Chautala is leading as the INLD candidate.

JJP-INLD split

The Jannayak Janta Party was formed from a split in INLD in 2018. JJP is led by Dushyant’s father Ajay Singh Chautala, while INLD is headed by O P Chautala, five-time former Haryana chief minister. O P Chautala is Abhay Singh’s father, and Chaudhary Devi Lal, former Deputy Prime Minister of India, was O P Chautala’s father. The split resulted from infighting within the Chautala family.

Both parties aim to uphold Devi Lal’s political legacy but face the threat of extinction in Haryana. Both parties secured less than 2 per cent vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.