New Delhi:
Five-time Haryana Chief Minister and veteran Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Om Prakash Chautala died at the age of 89 at his Gurgaon residence following a cardiac arrest.
Born in Sirsa on January 1, 1935, Mr Chautala first became the Haryana chief minister in 1989 and remained at the post for six months. Two months later, he again took oath as chief minister, but had to resign with five days. His third term came in 1991, but was cut short when President’s rule was imposed in the state within two weeks. He went on to serve two consecutive terms between 1999 and 2005.
In 2013, Chautala and his son Ajay Singh Chautala were sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of corruption in a teacher recruitment scam. They were held guilty of illegally recruiting 3,206 teachers in the state in 2000.
मुझे मेरे हर उम्र कार्यकर्ता तहेदिल अज़ीज़ हैं.. pic.twitter.com/2fWWYQsTHr
— Ch. Om Prakash Chautala (@InldSupremo) October 2, 2024
Mr Chautala was released prematurely after the Delhi government in 2021 passed an order granting a six-month special remission to those who have served nine-and-half years of their 10-year prison sentence. In 2022, he was also awarded a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case and a fine of Rs 50 lakh. This made him the oldest prisoner of Tihar jail at the age of 87.
Son of former Haryana chief minister Devi Lal, Mr Chautala had last contested and won the Haryana Assembly polls from Uchana Kalan in 2009. He has studied till Class 10, as per Association for Democratic Reforms data. Mr Chautala is survived by two sons and three daughters.
While Abhay Singh Chautala now leads the INLD, Ajay Singh Chautala broke off from the family fold and founded the Janata Jannayak Party in 2019. While Abhay Singh Chautala was the MLA from Ellenabad from 2019 till 2024, his grandson Arjun Chautala won the Assembly poll from Rania last year. Another grandson Dushyant Singh Chautala became the youngest Lok Sabha MP in India’s history in 2014.
