Rao Abhay Singh: The Bureaucrat turned MLA

2014 was an important year for Indian politics. The transition from the UPA government to the NDA government happened in 2014, and along with that, it was also a crucial year for South Haryana’s politics. South Haryana’ politics which was simply considered as the domain of few powerful families till 2014, changed with the entry of bureaucrat turned MLA Rao Abhay Singh.

Abhay Singh, an IAS officer from the 2001 batch, decided to run in the 2014 assembly elections after oluntarily retiring in 2013. After spending roughly four months with the INLD, he joined the BJP just before the elections and won his first one. Currently, serving as MLA from Nangal Chaudhary constituency, Rao Abhay Singh is quite popular in the region for his clean and fast decision-making image. Along with that, his people-friendly approach also led to a rise in his popularity.

Abhay singh's bureaucratic experience helped him to solve some long pending problems in the region. Water scarcity has been one such problem in the Nangal Chaudhary region for years. Abhay Singh since the beginning of his first term, focused on this, and today as a result of this, the river water is reaching the villages of Nangal Chaudhary constituency. Different recharge points and overhauling of water pipes were also done to ensure the timely availability of water.

People of the region also credit Abhay Singh for the newly built logistic hub in the constituency. As a result of all this, Rao Abhay Singh was awarded the Best MLA award in the Haryana Assembly along with Varun Chaudhary in March 2021. While Abhay Singh’s popularity rose in recent years, his relations with the head of Rao Scion, Rao Inderjit Singh also worsened.

Rao Inderjit Singh who is looking keen to launch his daughter, Aarti Rao, in the upcoming assembly elections, kept his hold over the Ahirwal region for years, but the rise of Rao Abhay Singh irritated the MP from Gurugram. Both the leaders have their camps of hardcore supporters and it is quite often that these supporters get into heated debate with each other when they sit together. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see who will keep the “Chaudhar” of the Ahirwal region in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.