Hukam Singh Phogat: The Forgotten Haryana CM’s Story
Before Dangal made the Phogat surname famous, another Phogat was running Haryana. Hukam Singh Phogat's short time as Chief Minister came with jail time, a resignation letter he kept in his pocket, and a village that didn't know how to ask.
When people hear the surname “Phogat” today, they think of wrestling mats and Olympic medals. Long before Geeta and Babita Phogat made the name famous, another Phogat was making history in Haryana politics. His name was Hukam Singh Phogat, and for a short but important period, he ran the entire state.
Who Was Hukam Singh Phogat
Hukam Singh Phogat was born on 28 February 1926 in a Jat farming family in Charkhi Dadri. He studied till Class 10 at his village government school, then became a teacher at that same school. When the government transferred him to Sangrur in Punjab, he quit the job instead and went back to farming. He had around 25 acres of land.
Politics found him almost by chance. In the 1960s, socialist leader Maniram Bagdi used to visit Dadri and stay at Hukam Singh’s house. He held political meetings right there. Those meetings slowly pulled Hukam Singh into politics, and he joined the Socialist Party.
How Emergency Changed Hukam Singh Phogat’s Life
In 1975, Indira Gandhi declared the Emergency. Opposition leaders across the country were arrested, and Hukam Singh was one of them. Police picked him up from his home. He was kept first in Hisar jail, then moved to Ambala. He stayed in jail for nineteen months.
He came out in January 1977 and went straight into the election that year. He won his first assembly seat from Dadri. This win brought him close to Chaudhary Devi Lal, and within a year, he became Panchayat Minister in Devi Lal’s government.
Hukam Singh Phogat: Who Never Switched Sides
In that era, Haryana politics was known for leaders switching parties overnight — this even became a famous political saying at the time. Hukam Singh did the opposite. When Chief Minister Bhajan Lal reportedly offered to keep him as minister if he left Devi Lal, Hukam Singh said no. This loyalty is what people remember him for, more than any post he held.
He won again from Dadri in 1982. When Devi Lal’s Lok Dal came back to power in 1987, Hukam Singh was made Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana.
From MLA To Chief Minister Of Haryana
In 1989, Devi Lal became India’s Deputy Prime Minister and gave charge of Haryana to his son, Om Prakash Chautala. But Chautala had to resign twice due to the Maham controversy. By July 1990, Prime Minister V.P. Singh made it clear that Chautala could not stay CM while facing these allegations.
Devi Lal wanted someone he could fully trust for the post — someone who would not try to build his own power. He called Hukam Singh, then Deputy CM, and asked him straight: could he make him Chief Minister? Hukam Singh said no at first, saying the job was too big for him. But Devi Lal insisted there was no other option. Hukam Singh took oath as Chief Minister on 17 July 1990.
Hukam Singh Phogat Kept His Word
As CM, Hukam Singh stayed the same loyal man he had always been. He would go to Chautala’s house and take his advice before any big decision. He never hid this — he openly said he was holding the seat for the Devi Lal family, not for himself.
Governor Dhanik Lal Mandal, who was his personal friend, once told him he could keep him in the CM chair for six months, even without a majority, if anyone tried to pressure him. Hukam Singh’s reply says everything about him. He told the Governor he was not attached to the chair, and that he always carried his resignation letter in his pocket, ready to hand it over the moment Devi Lal asked him to step down.
That moment came on 22 March 1991. Political changes in Delhi led Devi Lal to remove Hukam Singh and make Chautala CM for a third time. Hukam Singh stepped down without any fight — just like he had said he would.
A CM Who Still Worked His Own Fields
Even as Chief Minister, Hukam Singh kept farming his own land. He would drive his own tractor during sowing season. One morning in Dadri, he walked out around 5 am to see his fields without telling his security team. His guards woke up and panicked when they could not find him.
His simple lifestyle made news in a different way too. Some journalists visited his village and found his wife, Shanti Devi, making cow-dung cakes by hand, like village women do. A reporter asked her how the Chief Minister’s wife was doing this work. She said the Chief Minister was doing his job, and she was doing hers. That photo of her at work was printed in the newspapers.
A Story That’s Not In Any History Book
There’s a story from Hukam Singh’s time as CM that isn’t in the official records but is still told in Rithal village. He visited during his tenure and told the villagers gathered there, “I’ve come to meet my brothers. I’m the head of Haryana right now, ask me for something. The road to Chandigarh actually goes the other way, but I came out of my way just for this village.”
The villagers asked for a paved lane and a proper road. Hukam Singh’s response has stayed in the village’s memory ever since — he told them they didn’t even know how to ask. He was offering them the kind of favour that could have brought a college or a hospital to Rithal, and they had asked for a lane and a road instead.
It’s a small story, but it says something bigger about the man — a CM standing right there, genuinely willing to sanction something big for his own people, and frustrated that they thought too small to take it.
Hukam Singh Phogat Life After Politics
The 1991 elections were tough on Hukam Singh. He lost both the Lok Sabha seat from Bhiwani and the assembly seat from Dadri. Even Devi Lal lost his own seat that year. In 1992, Hukam Singh started the Haryana Samajwadi Party.
That same year, Mulayam Singh Yadav called him with an idea — merge their two socialist parties into one national party. Hukam Singh agreed. The Samajwadi Party was launched on 4 October 1992, with Mulayam as national president and Hukam Singh as head of its Haryana unit. But the party never really took off in Haryana. After a seat-sharing deal with Bansi Lal fell apart in 1996, Hukam Singh’s political career quietly came to an end.
He passed away on 26 February 2015. People remember him less for his policies and more for his loyalty and simple living — something rare in Haryana politics today.
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