Money and politics remain inseparable in Hisar

Beyond the poll rhetoric and high-octane campaign, the Hisar seat in Haryana is also a model of woman empowerment. This township is the base of India’s richest women, with a personal worth of $8.35 billion.

Savitri Jindal, 69, is the chairperson emeritus of the Jindal Group which has business interests in steel, power, cement, infrastructure and other areas. She also featured in Forbes' billionaire list of 2019. The biggest assets of the Jindal group are managed by Savitri’s Mumbai-based son Sajjan Jindal, who runs JSW Steel among other enterprises.

Savitri has also twice been an MLA from Hisar and is a minister in the Congress government in Haryana.

A few days ago, the Congress candidate from Hisar Lok Sabha constituency, 26-year old Bhavya Bishnoi, the grandson of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal and son of sitting MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, walked into ‘Jindal House’ in Hisar. Bhavya was seeking the support of Savitri Jindal, India's richest woman, in the coming election.

The Jindal and Bishnoi families, arguably the two most influential in the district, did not share a very good rapport earlier. But as the campaign has picked up and the date for polls in Haryana draws near, the Bishnoi’s realize it would be a far more challenging task to win without the support of the Jindal’s.

The politics in Hisar, the epicenter of 'Jatland' and the Jindal family have remained inseparable for long. A few months after the Modi wave swept the nation and brought the NDA to power at the Centre in 2014, the Haryana Assembly saw the BJP winning a majority of seats in the region.

Savitri Jindal lost the seat in the 2014 elections. Her son, Naveen Jindal is a senior Congress leader and has been an MP from Kurukshetra.