Chandigarh: Former Haryana chief minister and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo Om Prakash Chautala passed away at 89 after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Gurugram residence on Friday.
Chautala, who was the son of Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal, served as the chief minister of Haryana for a record five terms.
Born in 1935 in a village Chautala in Haryana’s Sirsa district, he formed INLD in 1998 and was first time elected MLA in 1970 as a member of Janata Dal.
हरियाणा के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री ओम प्रकाश चौटाला जी के निधन से अत्यंत दुख हुआ है। प्रदेश की राजनीति में वे वर्षों तक सक्रिय रहे और चौधरी देवीलाल जी के कार्यों को आगे बढ़ाने का निरंतर प्रयास किया। शोक की इस घड़ी में उनके परिजनों और समर्थकों के प्रति मेरी गहरी संवेदनाएं। ॐ शांति। pic.twitter.com/QXh74przOI
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 20, 2024
हरियाणा के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री ओम प्रकाश चौटाला जी के निधन की ख़बर सुनकर अत्यंत दुख हुआ।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 20, 2024
उन्हें विनम्र श्रद्धांजलि अर्पित करता हूं और उनके परिवारजनों और समर्थकों के प्रति अपनी गहरी संवेदनाएं व्यक्त करता हूं।
मैं हरियाणा के पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री और INLD के वरिष्ठ नेता चौधरी ओम प्रकाश चौटाला जी के निधन पर गहरा शोक व्यक्त करता हूं।
— Nayab Saini (@NayabSainiBJP) December 20, 2024
उनके निधन से हरियाणा की राजनीति के एक अध्याय का अंत हो गया है।
हरियाणा की राजनीति में उनके योगदान को हमेशा याद किया जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/mRyqNHV4QF
He is survived by three children – two sons Ajay Chautala and Abhay Chautala and daughter Sunita Chautala. While Ajay had remained an MP, Abhay has been an MLA from Ellenabad four times; Ajay’s son Dushyant, also a former MP from Hisar and a Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) leader, was deputy chief minister in previous BJP-JJP government, Abhay’s son Arjun is an MLA from Rania seat.
Haryana Government declares three days State mourning following the demise of INLD supremo and former Haryana CM Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2024
His last rites will be performed with state honours on December 21, in Sirsa. pic.twitter.com/nTnrbKn783
#WATCH | Gurugram: On the demise of former Haryana CM Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala, his son and INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala says, " Tomorrow at 3 pm, the last rites will be held at Teja Khera..." pic.twitter.com/VU6luQjIUB
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2024
#WATCH | On the demise of former Haryana CM and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, former Haryana CM and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda says, "...When Om Prakash ji was the CM, I was the LoP...We had good relations. He served people...He was still active. It didn't… pic.twitter.com/57qU17sGYQ
— ANI (@ANI) December 20, 2024
Chautala served as Haryana's chief minister from December 2, 1989 to May 22, 1990, from July 1, 1990 to July 17, 1990, from March 22, 1991, to April 6, 1991, from July 2, 1999 to March 2, 2000, and finally from July 24, 1999 to March 5, 2005.
He had also been part of NDA and Third Front (non-NDA and non-UPA) at the national level.
The former five-time chief minister Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son Ajay were sentenced to 10-year jail in the JBT recruitment scam on January 16, 2013. He was again awarded a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case in 2022 by CBI and was the oldest prisoner of Delhi’s Tihar jail aged 87.
Chautala’s earlier political career also had some controversies – while one of the incident was of 1978 when he was detained at the Delhi airport for bringing a large number of wrist-watches from abroad into the country; in 1990 also, he faced accusations of being involved in the killing of a political opponent during infamous Meham assembly segment bypoll.
I express profound sorrow and grief over the demise of former Haryana Chief Minister Shri Om Prakash Chautala ji, a visionary leader who dedicated his life to the service of the people of Haryana.
— Bandaru Dattatreya (@Dattatreya) December 20, 2024
Shri Om Prakash Chautala ji’s contributions to the development of Haryana and his… pic.twitter.com/qI2OBqESDU
GUV, LEADERS CONDOLE CHAUTALA’S DEMISE
Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatraya expresses grief over the demise of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. In his condolence message, Dattatraya described Chautala as a seasoned politician and a visionary leader who dedicated his life to the service of the people of Haryana.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini also expressed grief over Chautala’s demise. He said that with Chautala's passing, a significant chapter in Haryana's political history has come to a close, and it is hard to fill the void left by his departure.
Several other senior leaders of all the parties including Congress’ Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Badal also condoled Chautala’s demise.
3-DAY MOURNING DECLARED, PUBLIC HOLIDAY ON SAT
Meanwhile, the Haryana government declared a three-day state mourning from Friday as a mark of respect to former chief minister Om Prakash Chautala.
During this period, the national flag will fly at half-mast throughout the state…,an order issued by the Haryana chief secretary's office said and added that all the state government functions stood cancelled and there would be no official entertainment during this period – December 20-22.
The Haryana government has also declared Saturday as a public holiday in all state government offices.
Chautala will be accorded a state funeral at 3 pm at Teja Khera farm in Chautala family's native Sirsa district.