Devi Lal (25 September 1914 – 6 April 2001), also known as Chaudhary Devi Lal, was an Indian statesman, Independence activist, and peasant leader who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of India. He was a well known face in the Indian politics, and was known for championing the rights of farmers and rural communities, earning him the title “Tau” (elder uncle). In a political career spanned over six decades, Lal played a pivotal role in the formation of Haryana as a separate state in 1966, and later served as its chief minister for two terms (1977–1979, 1987–1989). He was associated with multiple political parties in India, including the Indian National Congress, Janata Party, Lokdal, and later his own Indian National Lok Dal.

Born in Teja Khera village, Sirsa (now in Haryana), he joined the Indian independence movement in his youth and was imprisoned for participating in civil disobedience campaigns. A advocate of farmers’ rights, he emerged as a mass leader in Punjab and played a decisive role in the creation of Haryana in 1966.

He later on served as the chief minister of Haryana from 1977 to 1979, and again from 1987 to 1989. He then transitioned to the central politics. Following the 1989 Indian general election, Lal refused the prime ministerial post and became deputy prime minister of India. He held the deputy prime minister position under the V. P. Singh government and again in Chandra Shekhar government. He held various cabinet ministerial portfolios including the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998 from Haryana as a member of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).

Many memorials were named after him including the Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Chaudhary Devi Lal Memorial Government Engineering College and Chaudhary Devi Lal Herbal Nature Park.

Devi Lal was born on 25 September 1914 in Teja Khera village, Sirsa district, Punjab (now in Haryana), British India, to a wealthy Jat family. His father, Lekh Ram Sihag, was a landowner with 2750 bighas (687.5 acres) of land, and his mother was Shugna Devi. The family relocated to Chautala village in 1919, when Lal was five years old. His education was limited; he attended middle school and later quit in 1930 to join the Indian freedom movement, inspired by figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, and Lala Lajpat Rai. At the age of 16, in 1928, he participated in a demonstration led by Lala Lajpat Rai, and in 1930, he was arrested during a protest as part of the Civil Disobedience and the Kisan (farmers’) Movement. He also trained in wrestling at an akhara in Badal, Punjab, during his youth. Lal came from a politically active family; his elder brother, Sahib Ram Sihag, served as a Congress MLA from Hisar in 1938 and 1947. His ancestral roots trace back to Bikaner, Rajasthan, from where his great-grandfather Teja Ram had migrated to Haryana.

Devi Lal married Harki Devi at an early age. Together, they had four sons—Om Prakash Chautala, Partap Singh, Ranjit Singh, and Jagdish Chander (also referred to as Jagdish Kumar, who died young)—and one daughter, Shanti Devi. Several of his children entered politics: Om Prakash Chautala served as Chief Minister of Haryana multiple times, while Partap Singh and Ranjit Singh also pursued political careers.

Lal became involved in the Indian independence movement during his early youth. Inspired by leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Bhagat Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose, Vallabhbhai Patel, and Lala Lajpat Rai, Lal developed an early interest in anti-colonial activism and agrarian issues. In 1928, at the age of 14, he participated in a protest against the Simon Commission led by Lala Lajpat Rai in Lahore. The following year, he attended the Indian National Congress session held on the banks of the Ravi River in Lahore, where the demand for complete independence (Purna Swaraj) was adopted.

Drawn to the Congress party, Lal left his studies during his 10th class to take part in the freedom struggle. His activism intensified during the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Kisan (Peasants’) Movement, which focused on agrarian grievances against colonial land policies. In August 1930, inspired by Gandhi’s Salt March, he led the Kaluwala Morcha, a local satyagraha protesting British salt laws, and was arrested at a Congress office in Hisar. He was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment in Hisar Jail and later transferred to the Borstal Institute and Juvenile Jail in Lahore on 4 January 1931. He was released on 5 March 1931 under the Gandhi–Irwin Pact.