Om Prakash Chautala, a veteran Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader and five-time Haryana chief minister, passed away at the age of 89 after a heart attack at his Gurgaon residence.
Mr. Chautala was born on January 1, 1935, in Sirsa. He was appointed chief minister of Haryana in 1989 and held the position for six months. Two months later, he again took the oath as chief minister but had to resign within five days. His third time ended in 1991 when the state was placed under the president’s administration in less than two weeks. He went on to serve two consecutive terms between 1999 and 2005.
Chautala and his son, Ajay Singh Chautala, were found guilty of corruption in a teacher recruitment scandal in 2013 and given a 10-year prison sentence. In 2000, they were found guilty of unlawfully hiring 3,206 teachers in the state. Chautala was released prematurely after the Delhi government passed an order for six months of special remission in 2021. At this time, Chautala had served nine and a half years of his 10-year jail sentence. In 2022, he was also sentenced to four years in jail and a fine of Rs 50 lakh in the disproportionate assets case, thus becoming the oldest prisoner in Tihar Jail at the age of 87.
In 2009, Om Prakash Chautala, the son of former Haryana chief minister Devi Lal, ran for and won the Haryana Assembly election from Uchana Kalan. According to data from the Association for Democratic Reforms, he completed his education up to Class 10.
Ajay Singh Chautala left the family and started the Janata Jannayak Party in 2019, although Abhay Singh Chautala is currently the leader of the INLD. Arjun Chautala, his grandson, won the Rania Assembly election last year, while Abhay Singh Chautala served as the Ellenabad MLA from 2019 to 2024. In 2014, Dushyant Singh Chautala, another grandson, was elected as India’s youngest Lok Sabha MP.
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