Om Prakash Chautala, former Haryana CM, passes away at 89 after cardiac arrest

Om Prakash Chautala Passes Away: Former Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Om Prakash Chautala has passed away at the age of 89 at his residence in Gurugram. According to Rakesh Sihag, the INLD Media Coordinator, Chautala died after suffering a cardiac arrest.

OP Chautala, a five-time chief minister of Haryana and former deputy prime minister Devi Lal’s son, suffered a cardiac arrest at his Gurugram home and was immediately rushed to hospital but could not be saved, news agency PTI reported.

Born on January 1, 1935, in a village near Sirsa, he was the son of Chaudhary Devi Lal, a significant figure in Indian politics who served as Deputy Prime Minister and played a crucial role in the establishment of Haryana as a separate state in 1966.

Born into a Jat family, OP Chautala‘s political career spanned several decades, during which he served as Chief Minister for four terms: briefly in 1989-1990 and again from 1999 to 2005. He has also been a seven-time MLA.

When his father Devi Lal went to Delhi as deputy PM in the Janata Dal government, it was Om Prakash Chautala who inherited the Chief Minister’s chair on December 2, 1989. He was required to win an election, and contested a bypoll thrice.

Chautala was known for his leadership of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a regional party in Haryana.

OP Chautala was released from Tihar Jail in July 2021 after serving nine and a half years of his sentence.

OP Chautala is survived by his two sons, Abhay Singh Chautala and Ajay Singh Chautala, both active in Haryana politics. His grandson, Dushyant Chautala, has served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana and was previously a Member of Parliament from the Hisar constituency.

The Chautala family has been influential in Haryana’s political landscape, continuing the legacy established by OP Chautala.

Cases Against OP Chautala

OP Chautala’s tenure was marked by both achievements and controversies, including a notable recruitment scam that led to his conviction and imprisonment for ten years in 2013.

Chautala has faced multiple legal challenges throughout his political career. His troubles began when he was allegedly involved in smuggling watches at the Delhi airport, leading his father, Devi Lal, to publicly disown him.

Despite being indicted by an Inquiry Commission as an accessory to murder, Chautala’s political career continued unabated until he was convicted in the infamous JBT teachers’ recruitment scam.

In January 2013, OP Chautala was sentenced to ten years of rigorous imprisonment at Tihar Jail after being found guilty alongside his elder son, Ajay Chautala, and 53 others on charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy related to the illegal appointment of 3,206 junior basic trained (JBT) teachers.

On March 26, 2010, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) submitted a chargesheet alleging that while serving as a public servant from May 24, 1993, to May 31, 2006, Chautala amassed assets worth ₹6.09 crore that were beyond his known sources of income.

In 2022, Om Prakash Chautala was convicted in a disproportionate assets case filed against him in 2005, marking his second conviction after being found guilty in the JBT teachers’ recruitment scam by the Supreme Court in 2013.