Ever since he made his first public appearance at a rally on Devi Lal’s birth anniversary on September 25 in Jind, Om Prakash Chautala set a gruelling pace of campaigning for himself. His doctor accompanied him, but the 79-year-old, given bail on health grounds, was indefatigable.
His voice was firm and face bright. “I can sacrifice my health to fulfil the vision of Devi Lal” he said during a half-hour speech, made without a pause.
Outside the ground, Mandeep Mann, a farmer, who stopped by to listen, said: “Ever since Chautala has come out on bail and started campaigning, there is new enthusiasm among his supporters.”
As the High Court cancelled his bail and ordered him to go to jail, his son and legislator Abhay Chautala told journalists that his father was being sent to jail as part of a conspiracy hatched by the BJP which did not want him to campaign.
Indeed, in the days that led to the court order, Haryana’s Jat belt — which is the INLD’s main vote bank — was agog with speculation about Mr. Chautala’s bail. In Kalayat’s anaj mandi , Zile Singh said: “We all know that he is misusing the bail to campaign for his party. Even if he is sent back to jail, he has achieved his aim because electioneering closes on 13, and he has managed to campaign for many days.”
In rally after rally, Chautala invoked his father Devi Lal, who still commands immense respect in the Haryana countryside. As Jagmal Phogat, a poor farmer, pointed out: “We were given old age pension first by Devi Lal. I may not approve of his progeny but my loyalty still lies with the party founded by him.”
Equating Devi Lal with ‘Bhagwan Ram,’ Mr. Chautala said, “Chaudhary Devi Lal was not like these leaders who fly in the air and have no idea about the condition of roads. Remember, how he sat with you and listened to your problems. He was the Bhagwan Ram of our times.”
