CHAUTALAS: ONCE THE RULERS, THEY NOW FIGHT BITTER BATTLES

Once the undisputed powerhouse of Haryana politics, the Chatuala or Devi Lal clan, which has produced a deputy prime minister, two chief ministers who together ruled the state six times, numerous ministers, and several MLAs, now finds itself battling for political survival and the family members fighting each other to protect their fading political strongholds.

- NEERAJ MOHAN

With eight members of the Chautala family contesting in Haryana Assembly elections, five of them are directly pitted against each other. This infighting is emblematic of the clan's decline from absolute power to mere players in a fragmented electoral battle..

Rania Witnesses Fight Between Oldest and Youngest Chautala In the rural Rania constituency, Abhay Chautala's son Arjun, representing the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), faces his granduncle, former cabinet minister Ranjit Singh Chautala.

This generational face-off is particularly symbolic as it encapsulates the larger struggle within the family.

Ranjit Singh, once a stalwart of the Congress and a former ally of the BJP, is now contesting as an independent after being denied a ticket by the ruling party.

The 79-year-old veteran politician is locked in a fierce battle with 31-year-old Arjun, with both the BJP and Congress fielding candidates from the Kamboj community, threatening to split the crucial Jat vote and further complicate the outcome.