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Courting the controversial kingmaker

New Delhi: 'Where is Beti Bachao now?' – angry netizens bellowed on social media as the controversial businessman turned politician, Gopal Kanda, emerged as a likely kingmaker post the hung Haryana Assembly election result. As BJP, expected to drive home a comfortable majority, fell six short of the required mark with 40 seats in a house of 90 – Kanda, who emerged victorious from his home Sirsa constituency, took a quick flight to Delhi to hobnob with the party's top leadership.

Cloaked in controversy, Gopal Goyal Kanda, who has previously served in the Congress-led cabinet of Bhupinder Singh Hooda, was forced to resign in 2012 after Geetika Sharma, an air hostess working in his MDLR airline, committed suicide, leaving behind extensive notes blaming Kanda of "misusing her". At the time of Sharma's death in August 2012, Kanda denied all allegations and remained underground for ten days before surrendering to the police. He was arrested on charges of rape, abetment to suicide, criminal conspiracy, criminal intimidation, and soon resigned from the cabinet. Ironically, at this time, extensive rallies were organised by BJP, then in opposition, demanding 'Justice for Geetika' and immediate 'Removal of Kanda'.

Naturally, leaders from the opposition have been stunned by this ethically questionable move. Congress's Randeep Surjewala was not far behind to bring the past to BJP's notice. "Look at the statements made by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah at the time Gopal Kanda was a minister in the Hooda-led government. What was the BJP's stand then? The doublespeak of BJP's lies has been exposed completely and shows the level of hunger for power the party has," Surjewala said. AAP's Manish Sisodia too took to social media to metaphorically convey his distaste by saying: "Those shown the door by people of Haryana are today chanting bhajans in the name of Gopal."

In fact, victorious ally Shiv Sena too has raised eyebrows with Priyanka Chaturvedi reminded the big brother that "If we disregard their (women's) sentiments & sacrifice it at the altar of politics & power, there's a price that will have to be paid in due course". This unexpected camaraderie hasn't gone down well across BJP quarters either. National Vice-President of BJP, Uma Bharati, let out a string of tweets on Twitter to convey her hesitation, emphasising that "winning an election does not absolve him of his crimes".

Within a year of Sharma's suicide, her mother too committed suicide, again blaming Kanda and one of his aides. Kanda remained in jail for a year-and-a-half and was granted bail in March 2014 after the charge of rape was dropped by the Delhi High Court, though the charge of abetment to suicide still lingers and is now in the evidence stage in a trial court.

Now, Ankit Sharma, brother of Geetika, stands as the biggest loser as the man associated with his sister's and mother's death roams free, in fact with added power, while their case drags on painfully in courts – for seven years now. "To allow a man involved with two deaths to contest elections and then consider him to be a part of the government is itself harmful to the people of a democracy. Since he lost the last election (2014), he has been determined to destroy evidence and turn witnesses hostile, and now that he is returning as an MLA, our hopes of justice have been well washed out," a harrowed Ankit Sharma said.

That's not all, Kanda and his wife also face income tax evasion to the tune of Rs 40 crore and in September 2018, Kanda was booked by the economic offences wing of Delhi Police in a cheating case involving one of his many associated companies.

As the investigation continues, Kanda has also been booked in five cases concerning bouncing of cheques.

Employed in a number of odd jobs, Kanda's rise has been meteoric and hardly noble. He gained immensely from Gurugram's property explosion at the turn of the millennium and his fortunes received a positive fillip with the appointment of INLD's Om Prakash Chautala as chief minister in 1999. In 2005, he launched his own airline, MDLR, and also a chain by the name Golden Globe Hotels Pvt Ltd to run hotels and malls in Gurgaon and an offshore casino in Goa.

After MDLR collapsed in 2009, Kanda shifted his focus to politics – the next big business. Though a strongman of INLD leader Ajay Chautala, he was refused a ticket in 2009 and contested independently to claim Sirsa constituency by over 6,521 votes and soon, extended support to the Hooda government, earning a cabinet berth.

After his bitter resignation in 2012, Kanda floated his own party, the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), for the 2014 elections – this time, he along with all 75 candidates fielded by his party lost. In 2019 though, he has returned and reclaimed Sirsa by a narrow margin of 602 votes.

With the state hung and ripe, and BJP rearing to secure what was its own, Kanda, who promised the support of five other independents, emerged as an unholy kingmaker. But emerging possibilities of an agreement with Dushyant Chautala, whose Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) won 10 crucial seats, and criticisms through the day have together provoked BJP to shy away from openly embracing Kanda – nevertheless, that the ruling party will accept any helping hand in its time of need to emerge more powerful stands uncontested, no matter how soiled the palms may be.

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