Four family members of Haryana's three Lals taste defeat in assembly polls

Four out of 10 family members of the three Lals of Haryana -- Devi Lal, Bansi Lal and Bhajan Lal -- tasted defeat in Haryana Assembly polls, the results for which were declared on Thursday.

The three Lals ruled Haryana for nearly 30 years after the state was carved out of Punjab in 1966, enjoying immense clout.

However, the influence of these clans has been confined to their pocket boroughs after the 10-year Congress rule in Haryana under Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

In the family of former deputy prime minister and ex-chief minister Devi Lal, the youngest to enter the fray was 31-year-old Dushyant Chautala, who won from Uchana Kalan seat by defeating BJP's sitting MLA Prem Lata, the wife of former Union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.

Dushyant, a former Hisar MP, contested as a candidate of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which he founded in 2018 after falling out with his uncle and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Chautala.

The split was the result of a bitter power struggle between Abhay Chautala and his elder brother Ajay Chautala. The feud saw Ajay Chautala and his sons Dushyant and Digvijay being expelled from the party by their grandfather and Devi Lal's son Om Prakash Chautala.

Dushyant's mother Naina Chautala, JJP candidate from Badhra constituency, also won. She defeated Congress candidate Ranbir Singh Mahendra with a margin of 13,704 votes.

Mahendra, a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is a son of former chief minister Bansi Lal.

INLD leader and sitting MLA Abhay Singh Chautala won from Ellenabad seat by defeating BJP's Pawan Beniwal.

BJP candidate Aditya Singh, son of Jagdish Chautala, who is one of the four sons of Devi Lal, lost to Congress candidate Amit Sihag from Dabwali seat.

Independent candidate Ranjit Singh Chautala, son of Devi Lal, won from Rania seat. He defeated Haryana Lokhit Party's Gobind Kanda by over 19,000 votes.

In the family of former chief minister Bhajan Lal, his two sons, Kuldeep Bishnoi and Chander Mohan, had also contested the assembly polls.

While Kuldeep won from Adampur seat, defeating BJP candidate and Tik Tok star Sonali Phogat, Chander Mohan faced defeat from Panchkula seat.

Bansi Lal's daughter-in-law Kiran Chaudhary, who had contested on a Congress ticket from Tosham seat, defeated BJP's Shashi Ranjan with a margin of 18,059 votes.

Bansi Lal's son-in-law and Congress candidate Somvir Singh lost from Loharu seat. He was defeated by BJP candidate Jai Parkash Dalal.