Haryana polls: Shruti Choudhry defeats cousin on prized family seat Tosham

Bansi Lal served as Haryana CM thrice and held key Union portfolios as well. His two grandchildren: Anirudh and Shruti Choudhry are fighting from Tosham to claim the family legacy

The counting of Haryana Assembly elections on Tuesday unfolding into an unpredictable battle as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party fought back against initial challenge by taking a lead on 49 seats by noon. By 4:30 pm, the saffron party won 29 seats and was leading on 20 seats. The magic number for government formation in Haryana is 45
 

A miniature version of this battle unfolded in Tosham seat, where two cousins from the family of late Haryana Chief Minister Bansi Lal were fighting for the family legacy. The Congress has fielded cricket administrator-turned-politician Anirudh Chaudhry from Tosham, while the BJP has put forward Shruti Choudhry. Both cousins are grandchildren of Bansi Lal, and attempted to take take forward a rivalry that their fathers once fought.

Shruti, who maintained a lead since the start, ultimately won the seat by a margin of more than 14,000 votes. She secured a total of 76,414 votes. 

Bansi Lal’s family history

Bansi Lal served as Haryana CM thrice and held key Union portfolios as well. He first won this seat in 1967 and had two sons: Mahendra and Surendra. 

Shruti is the daughter of Surender Singh, who died in a helicopter crash in May 2005. Her mother Kiran Chaudhary is a former senior Congress leader and has represented the Tosham seat four times. The mother-daughter duo joined the BJP in June. Kiran took over the family legacy from Tosham after Surendra’s death.

Notably, Aniruddh's father Mahendra is a popular political name, known for defeating Sharad Pawar to become the BCCI president in 2004. Mahendra was a one-time MLA but not from Tosham. 

Before quitting the Congress, Shruti Choudhry, 48, was the working president of the Haryana unit of the Congress. She has also served as an MP from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat from 2009 to 2014. At present, Kiran Choudhary is a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.