Moms on campaign trail to help kids sail through

Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, April 23

In the predominantly patriarchal society of Haryana, mothers have come out to assist their 'ladlas' and 'ladlis' (loving sons and daughters) through the electoral storm.

Three young politicians for the Hisar Lok Sabha seat — Bhavya Bishnoi of the Congress, Brijendra Singh of the BJP and sitting MP Dushyant Chautala of the JJP — have their mothers as their political strength in the ongoing electoral battle.

Two of them — Bhavya and Brijendra — are greenhorns.

Coincidentally, the mothers of the three candidate — Bhavya’s mother Renuka Bishnoi, Brijendra’s mother Prem Lata and Dushyant’s mother Naina Chautala — are first-time MLAs and have adequate political experience. While Renuka is the Congress MLA from the Hansi segment in Hisar, Naina is the Dabwali MLA and Prem Lata represents the Uchana Assembly segment as a BJP candidate.

Two more candidates — three-time MP Deepender Singh Hooda in Rohtak and Shruti Choudhry in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh (both Congress candidates) — too have strong support of their mothers. While Shruti’s mother Kiran Choudhry is a seasoned politician and MLA from Tosham, Deepender’s mother Asha Hooda, despite staying away from politics, has been a regular campaigner for her son.

Political watchers said women had never been so vocal for their family members in the past. “I never saw former Chief Minister Bansi Lal’s wife late Vidya Devi, former CM OP Chautala’s wife Sneh Lata, Bhajan Lal’s wife Jasma Devi on a campaign trail for their husbands or even sons when they joined politics. Though Jasma Devi once contested the election and won, she stayed away from campaigning, except for her own election,” said Pawan Kumar Bansal, a political commentator who has to his credit a book compiling anecdotes of three former Chief Minister Bhajan lal, Bansi Lal and Devi Lal.

As the dynastic political gets stronger in Haryana, women from established political families have started joining the electoral politics actively. Except Kiran Choudhry, who was an MLA in Delhi before shifting to the Haryana politics after the demise of her husband Surender Singh, Naina Chautala, Renuka Bishnoi and Prem Lata joined the poll fray in the 2014 Assembly poll apparently to keep hold of their political turfs.