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If BJP makes Gopal Kanda minister, there’ll be a zillion Geetikas, says airhostess’ brother

Haryana MLA Gopal Goyal Kanda is accused of abetting the suicide of airhostess Geetika Sharma in 2012, and her mother’s in 2013.

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New Delhi: Ankit Sharma, 28, said he feels “hopeless, tired, angry and defeated” to see the political rehabilitation of Haryana MLA Gopal Goyal Kanda, the prime accused in his sister Geetika and mother Anuradha’s suicide.

Kanda had to resign from the state Congress government after he was booked for allegedly abetting Geetika’s suicide in 2012. Seven years later, he is set to play kingmaker in Haryana after this week’s election threw up a hung verdict.  

“My father started crying in front of the TV when he saw this news,” Ankit told ThePrint. “He said it would be better if he died too. I begged him to not use these words.” 

Geetika, 23, was an airhostess with Kanda’s now-defunct MDLR airlines. In August 2012, she hanged herself at her Delhi residence, leaving behind a suicide note in which she accused Kanda and an aide of harassment. Just six months later, in February 2013, her mother Anuradha committed suicide as well. 

Her suicide notes conveyed she was devastated by her daughter’s death, which she blamed on Kanda.

Kanda was arrested after Geetika’s suicide and charged with rape, abetment to suicide, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. 

The rape charge was subsequently dropped and Kanda released on bail, after spending a year-and-a-half behind bars. He is also an accused in Anuradha’s suicide, and both cases are currently under trial.


Also Read: Gopal Kanda, millionaire debtor & accused in 2 suicides, tries luck in Haryana polls again


‘An empty home’

Over the past six years since Anuradha’s death, Ankit said, his father has been “going to sleep in an empty home and waking up to an empty home”. 

“The news of him (Kanda) winning a seat, and possibly being a part of the government, was the final punch to the gut,” he added. 

Ankit said he had no clue that Kanda, whose party faced a massive defeat in the 2014 assembly election, was contesting the Haryana assembly polls this year.

“What kind of society do we live in? First, someone like him shouldn’t have been allowed to contest elections. But also, I would like the people of Sirsa, who voted for him, to accompany us to just one court hearing,” he added. “I would like to show them the ample evidence there is against this man.”

Questioned about taking the support of a man they protested against in 2012, BJP spokesperson Sudesh Verma said the party was acting within the bounds of the Constitution. 

“We are sticking to our principles. But society, too, needs to reflect,” he added. “After all, it is the people of Sirsa who elected him. Why is there an expectation of morality only from the party? As an MLA, if he is extending his support, what can we say?” 

The law, he said, will take its own course on the suicide abetment case. While the BJP continues to face criticism for enlisting Kanda’s support, including from within the party, sources said he will not be given a ministerial position. 

‘Continued intimidation’

Ankit claimed he and his family had faced intimidation from Kanda since 2012, when the first of two suicide cases was filed. 

From an alleged physical assault in 2015 to continuing “fake calls from people pretending to be journalists”, the harassment continues, he said.

“His aides call me and pretend to be journalists. Aren’t you scared?” Ankit added. “What if they kill you? This is the kind of questions they ask.”

A sense of helplessness crept in as he talked about the ongoing trial.

“It is useless to go to court now. It’s just a humiliating experience where Kanda is treated with utmost respect,” Ankit said. 

“I don’t know anything about these (political) parties, but I do know that if Kanda becomes a part of the government, he will make our life hell,” he added.

“There will be a zillion more Geetikas in the next five years if the BJP accommodates him,” he said.

With inputs from Shanker Arnimesh


Also Read: Suicide abetment, fraud, forgery — cases against Gopal Kanda who BJP’s desperately wooing


 

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Our politics is becoming criminalised. Election Commission should ponder over the ways to avoid election of such criminal minded contestants. Once elected they will maneuver to become ministers and get a clout in the administration. This will make the lives of those who oppose them miserable. Where is the justice then?

  2. If Sharad pawar can come back in politics with more seats, what does this criminal have to fear. It is the thieves and crooks who run Indian politics. And Indian public are definitely to blame.

  3. CM bhi ban sakte hain. Aisi kya baat hai. Consider the tragedy of the PMC Bank, where about four people have lost their lives so far. No one has offered them a cup of tea. Beyond that mark of indelible ink on the finger, what is the value and worth of an ordinary citizen.

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