Next gen enters the fray

Dushyant Chautala, the eldest of the two sons of jailed ex-MLA Ajay Singh Chautala and Dabwali MLA Naina Singh Chautala, is the youngest Member of Parliament of the 16th Lok Sabha. Born on April 3, 1988, Dushyant was just 26 when he became INLD’s MP from Hisar Parliamentary seat by defeating Kuldeep Bishnoi of the Haryana Janhit Congress by a margin of 31,847 votes.

His member profile on the website of the Lok Sabha mentions his educational qualification as BSc., (Business Administration and Management) and educated from California State University, Bakersfield, USA.

Dushyant got his name entered in the Limca Book of Records as the ‘youngest-ever elected member of Parliament of India and represented India at the IPU Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Tokyo, Japan, in 2005.

The young MP hogged the limelight when he rode to Parliament on a tractor in December last year. It was to protest the Centre's move to declare tractor a transport vehicle. In September that year, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had brought an amendment in the Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, ending the status of tractor being a non-transport vehicle. It was allegedly done under pressure from the truckers lobby as use of tractors was limited to ferrying goods, affecting the truckers’ business. The ‘tractor tactics’ forced the ministry to reverse the decision.

Star performance 

As for his performance in the Lok Sabha, the official website of PRS Legislative Research shows that his attendance in the Parliament from June 1, 2014 to August 10, 2018 is 84 per cent against the national average of 80 per cent and state average of 86 per cent.

Dushyant participated in 228 debates during this period, which is much higher than the national average of 63.6 and state average of 58.1. He asked 634 questions against the national average of 267 and state average of 246. He also placed 20 Private Member Bills in the Parliament as against the national average of two bills and state average of three bills.

Leading the new front

Dushyant made news once again after his grandfather and INLD patriarch Om Prakash Chautala suspended him and his younger brother Digvijay Chautala from the party on October 10. This was done following a ruckus created by their followers during the party's state-level rally at Gohana on October 7. Later, they were expelled from the INLD on November 2.

Ajay Singh Chautala, who is serving a 10-year sentence in teh JBT recruitment scam with his father, laid the foundation of his sons’ new political party when he came out on a 14-day furlough from Tihar Jail in November. And Dushyant launched the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) on December 9.

At home, Dushyant’s younger brother Digvijay Chautala and mother, Naina Chautala, are the two pillars for the JJP convener. Digvijay is a law graduate from London.

Before the two brothers were expelled from the party,  Dushyant headed the youth wing of the INLD, while Digvijay was the president of the student wing, Indian National Student’s Organisation (INSO). Primarily, this was the reason behind Dushyant’s popularity among youngsters. His demand for 50 per cent reservation for Haryanvi youth in the state’s private sector also made him immensely popular. Chautala has now dissolved both — the youth wing of the INLD and the INSO.

Outside home, KC Bangar, a former chairman of Haryana Public Service Commission, is the brain behind ‘Team Dushyant’.  Nishan Singh, a former MLA from Tohana Assembly segment, and Sheela Bhayan, former president of INLD’s women wing, are the two other senior leaders backing the young leader. The MP also has the backing of two more sitting INLD MLAs — Anoop Dhanak from Uklana and Rajdeep Fogat from Charkhi Dadri.

He also has a strong team of workers of the Indian National Student’s Union (INSO) led by Pradeep 

Deswal. As Dushyant’s father Ajay Chautala had contested Parliamentary polls from Bhiwani and Hisar, he too got elected from Hisar. 

The young MP enjoys backing from old INLD workers hailing from these two districts. — SM