10th passed at 87 years, resigned three times in 15 months: The amazing political journey of Om Prakash Chautala
Veteran Haryana leader and former CM Om Prakash Chautala is no more. The INLD supremo breathed his last in Gurugram at the age of 89. The whole country is mourning his death. The political life of this leader who passed 10th at the age of 87 and resigned three times in 15 months is amazing. Let us know how was the political journey of Om Prakash Chautala.
Om Prakash Chautala was educated only till the 10th, but he did a lot of work in the field of education in Haryana while being the Chief Minister. Om Prakash Chautala passed the 10th examination at the age of 87. Earlier, he had taken the 10th exam, but he could not give the English paper. After this, OP Chautala gave a supplementary paper in English, in which he got 88 percent marks.
Om Prakash Chautala's political journey started in the year 1968. He contested the first election from his father Devi Lal's traditional seat Ellenabad, but he had to face defeat. However, later the High Court cancelled the assembly membership of the winning candidate Lalchand. In 1970, by-elections were held on this seat and he won and reached the assembly for the first time.
Became CM for the first time in 1989
Om Prakash Chautala's father Devi Lal Chautala became CM for the second time in 1987, but in the Lok Sabha elections held two years later, Janata Dal got majority and VP Singh became the Prime Minister of the country. After this, he became Deputy PM and handed over the command of the state to his son Om Prakash Chautala. Om Prakash Chautala became the Chief Minister of Haryana for the first time in December 1989. He was then a Rajya Sabha member.
Chautala had to resign in the Meham violence case
In February 1990, during voting on Meham seat, there was an incident of booth capturing, due to which the Election Commission cancelled the election of Meham seat. After this incident, riots broke out in Meham, in which many people lost their lives. This issue was also raised in Parliament. As a result, under pressure from the coalition, Prime Minister VP Singh made Om Prakash Chautala resign from the post of Chief Minister and appointed Banarasi Das Gupta as Chief Minister in his place.
Chautala's government collapsed in 5 days
After a few days, Om Prakash Chautala won from the Darba seat. Meanwhile, after 51 days, Banarasi Das was removed from the post of Chief Minister and OP Chautala became the Chief Minister for the second time. However, VP Singh did not want Om Prakash to become the Chief Minister as long as the Mehams case was going on. In such a situation, he had to resign in just 5 days. Master Hukum Singh got the command of power in Haryana.
Resignation 3 times in 15 months
VP Singh's government fell due to the Rath Yatra controversy in November 1990. Janata Dal was divided into two and Chandrashekhar became the Prime Minister. Four months later, Devi Lal handed over the command of Haryana to OP Chautala for the third time in March 1991. Due to this decision of his, some MLAs left the party, due to which his government collapsed in 15 days and President's rule was imposed. In such a situation, Om Prakash Chautala had to resign from the post of CM for the third time in 15 months.
Chief Minister ship from 1999 to 2005
He became the Chief Minister for the fourth time on 24 July 1999, but he dissolved the assembly in December 1999. Then elections were held, and he became the Chief Minister for the fifth time on 2 March 2000. This time, he remained the Chief Minister for the full five years.
Formation of Haryana Lok Dal (National)
In 1993, Chautala won the Narwana by-election. In 1996, he formed a new party called Haryana Lok Dal (National). In 1998, he won five Lok Sabha seats in an alliance with BSP. Then, the party's name was changed to Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
Chautala in Tihar jail
Haryana IAS officer Sanjeev Kumar had complained to the Supreme Court about corruption in the recruitment of 3,206 JBT teachers. Om Prakash Chautala was accused of taking three to four lakh rupees from each teacher. Chautala remained in jail for more than 9 years in this case. He was released on 2 July 2021 considering his health during Corona.
Passed 10th exam at the age of 87
The Chautala family once played an important role in the politics of Haryana. If we remember the life of five-time CM Om Prakash Chautala, there are many interesting events. One of these is that he passed the class 10 exam at the age of 87.
During his tenure, Om Prakash Chautala was lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi after being convicted in the teacher recruitment scam. While serving the sentence for the teacher recruitment scam, Om Prakash Chautala studied class 10 while staying in jail and also passed the board exam.
Om Prakash Chautala passed this 10th exam at the age of 87 in 2021. Chautala had secured 53.40% marks in the exam conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). This year more than 66% of the students had passed the exam.