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3 familes, 3 generations, 70 years: The battle for Rewari continues

Rewari/Gurgaon: The swords may not be clashing, there are no horses or elephants and the invading forces aren’t armed. But just 200km from Panipat — which saw emperors fighting each other to take over kingdoms — the battle lines have been drawn for three generations to take over seats.

In the ancient town of Rewari , it’s difficult to imagine an election without the three Ahirwal families — Rao Inderjit Singh of Rampura House, Captain Ajay Yadav and Rao Narbir Singh from Budhpur House.

Needless to say, one of these families has always been at the helm of affairs in various governments of Haryana .

In modern day history, Rewari is described as the birthplace of Rao Tularam, who had fought the British in the first war of Independence. In British India, it was part of Punjab, and after Independence, Rewari was merged with Gurgaon, transferred to Mahendergarh and eventually became a full-fledged district in 1989.

Although the political rivalry among these families started a few years after Independence, they had entered politics much before that.

Rao Mohar Singh, the founder of Budhpur House and great grandfather of current MLA Rao Narbir Singh, had entered the joint Punjab Legislative Council in 1942. Four years later, he joined the erstwhile Unionist Party (Zamindara League) and continued there in post-Partition Punjab. He remained a legislator till his death in 1957.

A descendant of Rao Tularam and founder of the Rampura House, Rao Balbir Singh was Mohar Singh’s colleague in the Punjab Legislative Council. Balbir Singh’s son Rao Birender Singh went on to become the first speaker of the Haryana assembly and second chief minister of the state.

A law graduate from Delhi University, Mohar Singh started the first cooperative bank in Gurgaon. Called FL Brayn Cooperative Bank, it was aimed at liberating the peasantry and deprived classes from the clutches of money lenders.

The political tussle started after Independence, when Rao Birender Singh contested against Congressman Rao Abhay Singh in 1952. Rao Abhay, a lawyer, won the election.

“My father had just returned from World War II. And Congress was the only party at that time. So, Rao Abhay managed an easy win,” Rao Inderjit Singh says, asked about that contest.

Since then, these families have pitted candidates in almost every election. Recollecting how the rivalry started, Rao Inderjit says: “We never contested against each other directly. Budhpur House had once supported a rival candidate when my father was contesting an election. Since then, they are our political rivals.”

Rao Birender became a member of the legislative council in 1954 and served as minister in the Punjab government. When Haryana was carved out of Punjab, Bhagwat Dayal Sharma became the chief minister while Rao Birender was speaker in 1967. Over the years, Rao Birender had differences with Sharma. He left Congress, which led to the fall of the government.

He formed his own political outfit — Vishal Haryana Party — and with the help of his supporters, took oath as the second chief minister of Haryana. But his term was short, as President’s rule was imposed in the state a few months later.

Since then, the families have faced each other a number of times, each having their chance to take political revenge. “We, as a family, have defeated Rampura House. My father defeated Rao Birender, and I have defeated Rao Birender’s son,” says former Haryana minister Captain Yadav. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Yadav was defeated by Rao Inderjit in the Gurgaon seat.

This time, Captain Yadav’s son, Chiranjeev Rao, is contesting his debut election on a Congress ticket from his father’s stronghold Rewari. The contest would have been more interesting had Arti Singh Rao, daughter of Rao Inderjit Singh, been given the ticket by the ruling BJP.

Inderjit had lobbied hard for his daughter to be given the chance to contest, but the party denied a ticket to Arti because of a recent decision not to make relatives of lawmakers candidates. Inderjit, however, managed get a ticket for his staunch supporter, Sunil Yadav, against his rival’s son Chiranjeev.

Budhpur House, however, is not in the fray this time as its descendant, Rao Narbir, has been denied a ticket from Badshapur constituency.

Told about Captain Yadav’s record of winning six elections from Rewari, Inderjit says: “Captain Ajay Yadav would call himself the fourth son of my father. He won elections with my family’s support.” On his rival Inderjit, Captain Yadav says: “People of Ahirwal know him as an MP who was never there for them. On the other hand, I have stood for people of the region whenever they needed me. I am the son of the soil.”

The political rivalry is not unknown to Rewari residents. Veer Singh, an electrician, says that the Raos “behave like kings”, and a section of villagers is against “this arrogance”. Another villager, Ombir Yadav, thinks that the prominence Rewari enjoys is “only because of the Rao family”.

Some villagers think the families should come together. “This will be beneficial for the Ahirwal region,” says Ramdhan Singh, a farmer in Lisana village.

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