Om Prakash Chautala, the ex-Chief Minister of Haryana and head of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), passed away on Friday at 89 years old in his home in Gurugram. He experienced a cardiac arrest at home and was promptly taken to the hospital, but was unable to be saved.
Chautala, a seven-time MLA, held the position of Chief Minister of Haryana for an unprecedented five terms, beginning in December 1989, with his last two consecutive terms occurring from 1999 to 2005.
Born in January 1935 to a notable political family, Chautala is the child of Chaudhary Devi Lal, who was the 6th Deputy Prime Minister of India. Devi Lal served as a Chief Minister of Haryana as well.
Chautala continued to be a prominent figure in Indian politics, although his career was also defined by controversies, such as a recruitment scam that resulted in his incarceration.
He belonged to both the NDA and the Third Front, a coalition of parties established in 2009 that were not affiliated with the NDA or the Congress-led UPA. He was chosen for the Rajya Sabha in 1987 and remained in this role until 1990. In 2013, he received a 10-year sentence for a fraud concerning the recruitment of junior basic teachers in Haryana from 1999 to 2000, and he was freed from Tihar Jail in July 2021 after completing nine and a half years.
