While tickets to relatives of leaders in Maharashtra for the ensuing Assembly elections has kicked up a row, Haryana provides a study in contrast. The ruling Congress, which is also the favourite for the coming polls, had declared that it would not provide tickets to any “new” relatives of political leaders, and it has stuck to its stand. This means that only those relatives who have contested elections in the past would be considered for party tickets, while first-timers will be given the brush-off. The diktat, according to party sources here, had come from the Congress high command, and it was able to stave off attempts by some leaders to get nominations for their close relatives.

Interestingly, however, the electoral battle in the state features the scions of the three famous Lals of Haryana — Bansi Lal, Devi Lal and Bhajan Lal — along with the latest “political family” of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda whose father was a minister in Pepsu, and his son Deepender Hooda is a Lok Sabha member who was elected for the second time from Rohtak. While Hooda has refrained from fielding his wife despite vocal demand from a section of the party, there is a surfeit of relatives contesting the elections from all the major parties.

Bansi Lal’s family is now a divided house. He himself had left the Congress to form the Haryana Vikas Party. His son Surender, however, returned to the Congress and was made a minister but died in a helicopter crash. His wife, Kiran Choudhary, was inducted in the state Cabinet and is in the fray this time from the family stronghold of Tosham. Her daughter, Shruti Choudhary, was elected to Lok Sabha earlier this year. Ranbir Mahindra, elder son of Bansi Lal, is recontesting as Congress candidate from Badhra constituency while his son-in-law Somveer is also re-contesting as Congress candidate from Loharu.

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