Chaudhary Devi Lal (born Devi Dayal; 25 September 1915 – 6 April 2001) was an Indian statesman who served as 6th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1991 in the governments of V. P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar. Also popularly known as Tau (uncle), Lal emerged as farmer leader from the state of Haryana, and served as the Chief Minister of Haryana first in 1977-79 and then in 1987-89. Personal life Chaudhary Devi Lal was born on 25 September 1915 in Teja Khera village of Sirsa district in present-day Haryana. His mother's name was Shugna Devi and father's name was Lekh Ram Sihag. Lekh Ram was a Jat of Chautala village and he owned 2750 bighas of land. He received education up to middle-school. His son Om Prakash Chautala has also served as Haryana's chief minister four times. Lal's ancestral roots lie in Bikaner, Rajasthan, from where his great-grandfather Tejaram had migrated. His father Lekhram relocated to Chautala village in 1919 when Lal was five years old. In 1928 at the age of 16 Lal participated in demonstration by Lala Lajpat Rai. He was a student of "Dev Samaj Public High School Moga" in Moga during his 10th class, at that time was arrested at Congress office in 1930, he quit studies and joined freedom movement. He also took wrestling lesson at an Akhara in Badal village of Punjab. He was first elected MLA in 1952. Lal comes from a prolific political dynasty of Haryana. His elder brother Sahib Ram Sihag was the first politician from the family who became Congress MLA from Hisar in 1938 and 1947. Lal had four sons, Partap Singh, Om Prakash Chautala, Ranjit Singh and Jagdish Chander. All joined politics except Jagdish who died at a young age. His eldest son, Partap Singh, was an MLA from Indian National Lok Dal in the 1960s. Independence movement Lal was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and was involved in the struggle for India's independence from the British Raj. Both he and his elder brother, Sahib Ram, left their studies unfinished to take part in the freedom movement. For this, he was sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment and sent to Hissar jail on 8 October 1930. He took part in the movement of 1932 and was kept in Sadar Delhi Thana. In 1938 he was selected delegate of All-India Congress Committee. In March 1938 his