How dynasty dominates Haryana parliamentary polls

There can be friends and foes in the electoral fray, but Haryana's parliament polls will see a good sprinkling of family. Bhupinder Singh Hooda is contesting from Jat-dominated Sonipat, while his son Deepinder Singh Hooda will seek election from Rohtak, both on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Haryana goes to polls on May 12. Dushyant Singh Chautala is fighting to retain his Hisar constituency, while his brother Digvijay Singh is the candidate of the five-month-old Jannayak Janata Party. Dushyant's cousin, Arjun Chautala, is the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) candidate from Kurukshetra.

Brijendra Singh, the 46-year-old son of Birender Singh, the Union minister for steel, is the BJP candidate from Hisar. Brijendra resigned from the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) to take forward the family's political legacy. The Union minister, however, could not get a party ticket. But, the family is well represented; his wife Prem Lata is the lawmaker from Haryana's Uchana Kalan constituency.

Shruti Chaudhary, daughter of Kiran Choudhry, a former minister in Haryana and the current MLA from Tosham, is the candidate from Bhiwani Mahendragarh Lok Sabha constituency. If Dushyant, Digvijay and Arjun Chautala represent the fourth generation of the Devi Lal clan, Brijendra is the great grandson of Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram whose legacy he hopes to take forward. Shruti's father was the late Haryana minister Surinder Singh and her grandfather, the legendary former chief minister Bansi Lal. Also in the field in Hisar is Bhavya Bhishnoi, the grandson of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, nephew of Haryana deputy chief minister Chandramohan, and son of former MLA Kuldeep Bhishnoi. Isn't that enough of dynasty for a small state with 10 parliamentary constituencies?