The INLD and Badal’s Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) were also long-standing allies, until they fell out in March 2016 over the inter-state Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal dispute. The INLD was upset because the then Punjab government led by Badal had brought a Bill in the state Assembly to return to farmers the land acquired for the SYL project, which is considered crucial for Haryana’s water supply that still remains incomplete and under legal challenge.
However, the personal ties between the two families remained intact. The members of the Badal family have continued to attend the social functions and political rallies held by the Chautalas in Haryana, including the annual event for commemorating the birth anniversary of Devi Lal. When Chautala held a rally in Fatehabad in September 2022, Badal’s son and then SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, along with other prominent Opposition leaders, had attended it.
Condoling Chautala’s demise, Sukhbir said: “All his life, he championed the cause of farmers and the poor. His passing away at a time when our farmers are engaged in a fight for justice and survival is a huge loss to society in general and to farmers and downtrodden people in particular. His passing away is also a huge personal loss to me and my family. I will always miss his warm and guiding hand.”
The Chautalas, despite originally hailing from Rajasthan’s Bikaner, have enjoyed considerable support in Haryana. The family moved to Haryana’s Teja Khera village in the 19th century before settling in the neighbouring village of Chautala in the Sirsa district. In his early years, Devi Lal had received training to become a wrestler at an akhara in Punjab’s Badal village, to which the Badal family belongs.
Following Devi Lal’s death in 2001, Parkash Badal had installed his lifesize statue in Killianwali village on the Punjab-Haryana border. After Parkash Badal passed away in 2023, Chautala’s grandson and then Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala installed Badal’s lifesize statue alongside that of Devi Lal’s, stating that Badal “symbolises the brotherhood between Haryana and Punjab”. Dushyant had also referred to Badal as their “family head”.
Dushyant had earlier told The Indian Express that the two families had been “pillars of support” for each other for many years, even during the Emergency when Devi Lal and Parkash Badal were jailed for 19 months.
According to Aditya Devi Lal, another grandson of Devi Lal, it was the 1974 Rori bypoll in Haryana that had cemented the ties between the two families. Aditya recalled how Badal’s younger brother, Gurdas Singh Badal, had once told him about the efforts Parkash had put into convincing Devi Lal to contest the bypoll. “By that time Devi Lal had left the Congress and was very upset with the conduct of the then Congress leaders. To stay away from politics, he had started focusing on farming. Badal sahab sent his younger brother Gurdas to meet Devi Lal. At the time, Devi Lal was watering the fields. He said, ‘Today’s politics needs a lot of money to contest elections and I don’t have that much money.’ Ultimately, Parkash himself came to convince Devi Lal and also offered an Ambassador car and some money,” Aditya said.
“In that election, the then Haryana CM Bansi Lal had fielded a relative against Devi Lal and even then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had come to campaign for him. On the other hand, Parkash Badal supported Devi Lal wholeheartedly. Finally, Devi Lal won the poll battle,” Aditya added. Devi Lal had won the bypoll by a margin of 16,500 votes in a constituency that had a total 65,000 votes.
Badal’s presence at a rally held by the INLD in Hisar in 2014 was considered an important factor for Dushyant’s win from the Lok Sabha seat. Badal had attended the rally even though the BJP, a SAD ally in Punjab, was a rival to the INLD in Haryana. In the Hisar seat, the BJP had backed its alliance partner Haryana Janhit Congress’s Kuldeep Bishnoi. At the rally, Badal had hinted that he would nominate Dushyant to Modi’s Cabinet if the NDA came to power at the Centre. Badal’s presence at the rally had given the impression that the INLD might ally with the BJP after the polls, which had then proved to be a significant advantage in Dushyant’s favour.
When the INLD split in 2018 and Dushyant floated the breakaway Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), Badal had implored the Chautalas to stay united.
In the Lok Sabha polls this year, Sukhbir had accompanied the INLD’s Abhay Chautala, Om Prakash Chauala’s son, to file his nomination papers from the Kurukshetra seat, which he ultimately lost. Sukhbir had then said the INLD and the SAD were not only political allies but also represented the “sanjh (bond)” between the people of Punjab and Haryana.
