In the upcoming October 5 state assembly election in Haryana, a significant contest is brewing in the Rania constituency of Sirsa district between two members of the Chautala family: 79-year-old Ranjit Chautala, a former two-time cabinet minister, and his 32-year-old grandnephew, Arjun Chautala. Ranjit is running as an independent candidate, while Arjun is the nominee of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), a party with deep roots in the district.
Ranjit, an estranged brother of INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, has had a long political career, including a stint as a Rajya Sabha member. Though previously aligned with the Congress, Ranjit supported the BJP in 2019 and was made a cabinet minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar government after the BJP fell short of a majority. However, he recently quit the BJP after being denied a party ticket from Rania and is now running independently with the support of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), led by Ajay Chautala, another of Om Prakash Chautala’s sons.
Arjun, on the other hand, is a political newcomer and the son of INLD leader Abhay Chautala. He previously ran unsuccessfully in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Kurukshetra.
The Rania seat, which has a significant Jat voter base (around 35%), will also see competition from Congress’ Sarv Mitter Kamboj, BJP’s Sheeshpal Kamboj, and AAP’s Harpinder Singh. The total number of voters in the constituency is 1,89,408, with male voters outnumbering female voters.
