Last of the Lals dreams of a comeback

Tricolours flutter with renewed ambition at his crowded election office near the hospital in Adampur. His cronies sip hot tea and say, ‘‘Victorious Congress MLAs will elect the CM.’’

As if Bhajan’s supporters are already warning 24 Akbar Road about the folly of foisting a younger leader. It is also a message that the wily Bishnoi can control all chhatish biradari (36 caste groups) of Haryana.

A soft-spoken Om Prakash, Bhajan Lal’s long-time associate, reprimands the men who are anxious that it is the legislative party which decides the leader. A smile lights up his wrinkled face, as he corrects his fellow activists, ‘‘Haryana will have a CM decided by the high command and Sonia.’’

Ninety kilometres away in Rohtak, Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s supporters ask, ‘‘Where was Bhajan Lal till the Parliamentary elections in 2004?’’ The 74-year-old’s protest against Chautala’s regime has been relatively muted. His quest for the CM’s job, after emerging from what his opponents describe as ‘‘hibernation’’, is obviously being challenged.

For Bhajan Lal had omitted the younger leaders from his scheme of things. One can understand his inability to take the experienced Hooda along but his politics has not accommodated Randeep Singh Surjewala, Kumari Selja or Sepoy Mutiny martyr, Rao Tula Ram’s descendent, Rao Inderjeet. Like the other two Lals, Bhajan Lal never cared for those outside his family’s domain. To him, Haryana’s future should preferably lie in the hands of his two sons, Kuldeep Bishnoi or Chander Mohan. It’s the same as Devi Lal never being able to look beyond Om Prakash Chautala and Chautala propping his two sons, Ajay and Abhay. It’s also the same as Bansi Lal with his sons, Randeep Singh Mahindra and Surender Singh.

That the CM-aspirant has given development a go-by — though he was the MLA — is clear from Adampur’s report card. The roads are the muddiest, the slush emits stench and there is a sense of despondency in the congested Kranti Market.

But the wily Bhajan has laid the groundwork for a final attempt at Chandigarh’s masnad. He has secured tickets for 25-odd supporters. In the process, his politics of factional squabbles has been terribly exposed.

Either way, both acceptance and rejection of Bhajan’s petition for the top job means a roller-coaster ride ahead for the Congress. Accepted, his vision will keep Haryana enmeshed in its tradition of feudal politics. Rejected, the Bishnoi patriarch may turn out to be a destructive force.