Newsmaker | Khattar govt’s in-house critic, Devender Singh Babli again takes aim

“In the 2019 Assembly polls, he was a strong contender from Tohana and among the front runners for Congress ticket. But, the Congress nominated former agriculture minister Paramvir Singh instead of Babli. This irked him. Since Ashok Tanwar also had to quit the Congress, Babli too ended his association with the party and joined the Dushyant Chautala-led JJP. Dushyant saw his potential and pitched him against the BJP’s state chief Subhash Barala. Babli won,” a senior Congress leader told The Indian Express, summarising the minister’s quick rise in politics.

Babli’s victory margin over Barala was more than 52,000 votes. It was the second-highest victory margin in those elections. The BJP fell short of the majority in the 90-member House and entered into a post-poll alliance with the JJP, which bagged 10 constituencies. While Khattar managed to keep his post, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala became the deputy chief minister. But despite defeating the then state BJP chief in his debut election, Babli did not find a place in the ministerial council.

Barely three months later, in January 2020, Babli fired his first salvo at the government. He labelled the ruling dispensation “the most corrupt” and told The Indian Express that he was ashamed of being part of a government where “nobody is bothered about people” and under which the police officers are nothing but “hooligans in uniforms”.

“The situation is not good at all. People are not satisfied. How can they be satisfied when even I (an elected representative) am not satisfied? There might have been corruption in previous governments, but I have never seen such levels of corruption ever,” he said at the time.

He took aim at the government next in September 2020, but this time his target was his own party chief. “Dushyant should have inducted all ministers of the JJP quota the day he took oath as Deputy CM. Even chairmen of different boards should have been appointed from among party MLAs. Why it did not happen?” he said, claiming that dissatisfied JJP MLAs were in touch with him.

Asked if he was rebelling against Dushyant’s leadership, Babli said, “How is it a revolt? Isn’t it a failure of the head of the house if he is unable to take care of the house? We elected Dushyant as leader of our legislature party. Should others not be given ministership? Seven of the 10 MLAs had their own base. If Dushyant has influence across the state why did not the party win 55-60 seats?”

The minister who belongs to the Jat community and comes from a family of farmers sided with protesters during the agitation against three central farm laws that went on for over a year and ended only when the Centre announced the repeal of the laws last year. In March 2021, Babli told the Assembly that villagers were boycotting MLAs in protest against the laws. “Nowadays when we go to villages, we get phone calls saying don’t come to our village — be it social or religious events, or a wedding we have to attend. We said that since you don’t want to invite us and you don’t want us to fulfil our social or political responsibilities, we will not come. It is a problem.”

A few months down the line, in June, Babli’s convoy was attacked in Tohana. Following the attack, he was heard making objectionable remarks about those he believed had carried out the attack. The minister’s personal assistant suffered severe head injuries in the attack and the windshield of his vehicle was smashed. Four days later, Babli apparently gave in to farmers’ pressure and “forgave” those who had attacked him.

Last December, the JJP MLA’s efforts to keep the government on its toes paid off and he was inducted into the Cabinet as development and panchayat minister.

But, among his chief problems is that Barala is still quite active in Tohana. Babli has accused the BJP leader of not allowing him to work in the constituency. In his recent outburst, Babli was filmed saying a few days ago, “Till the time Devender Singh Babli is here, I will not let anybody do anything wrong here in Tohana. These people (corrupt) should forget about it. A lot of scams have taken place here in the past and those scams have been brushed under the carpet. Illegal buildings have come up here in Tohana. These are such people who have built assets worth Rs 500 crore here in Tohana.”

The MLA urged people to wage a war against corruption, and said people not only in Tohana but in the entire state should “blacken the faces of corrupt politicians”. Asked about the alleged corruption, Babli told The Indian Express, “I would call it the government’s weakness.”

Responding to his party and Cabinet colleague’s remarks, Dushyant Chautala said, “So, why doesn’t he stop it? If Babli sees corruption anywhere, he should catch it and stop it immediately. What will happen by talking about it? Till the time you do not stop it and take action against the corrupt, this corruption will not stop. Our government has taken several initiatives under digitalisation to curb corruption.”

Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress “praised” the Tohana MLA, saying “eventually somebody has shown the courage to speak the truth”. The former CM went on to say, “If Devender Babli is telling a lie then Dushyant should take action against him. Then, Devender Babli has no right to stay in the Cabinet. But, if he (Babli) is speaking the truth, then the government stands exposed. It is not just Babli, the entire state knows that corruption is at its peak in Haryana. He (Babli) is not an ordinary person. He is not only MLA of a party but also a member of the council of ministers of the coalition government. The state government must probe into all the issues that he has raised and take stern action against the culprits.”