Chandigarh: While former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda has announced plans to expand the base of his political outfit, the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), after being acquitted by a Delhi court Tuesday in the 2012 suicide case of one-time air hostess Geetika Sharma, the Bharatiya Janata Party has also suggested the acquittal has made it possible for the leader to join the party.
The HLP was founded in 2014 and is currently part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Soon after being acquitted of abetment charges in the suicide case, Kanda drove to Sirsa, his hometown and assembly constituency. Speaking to the media after paying obeisance before an image of of Tara Baba, a saint revered by the Kanda family, the former minister said he would focus on strengthening the HLP.
“I will hold a meeting of the HLP very soon and then work on the party’s expansion. My party’s name itself says that it is for lok hit (people’s welfare) and it is the reason we decided to be part of the NDA,” Kanda said.
He added: “Under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has established a unique identity the world over. I keep visiting other countries and I have observed that India has emerged as a big force ever since the BJP came to power. I am sure the NDA is going to win the 2024 parliamentary polls comfortably and form government again [at the Centre].”
Kanda also met Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at New Delhi’s Haryana Bhawan Friday, to discuss development projects and flood relief measures in Sirsa.
माननीय मुख्यमंत्री श्री @mlkhattar जी से आज दिल्ली स्थित हरियाणा भवन में मुलाकात हुई। प्रदेश और सिरसा से जुड़े कई महत्वपूर्ण मुद्दों पर चर्चा हुई। सिरसा की सड़क, नहरों और स्टॉर्म वॉटर प्रोजेक्ट इत्यादि को लेकर बात हुई। मुख्यमंत्री जी ने सकारात्मक रुख सिरसा के विकास कार्यों को… pic.twitter.com/VWIadFj1zu
— Gopal Kanda (@kanda_mla) July 28, 2023
Meanwhile, a day after Kanda’s acquittal, Haryana BJP spokesperson Sanjay Sharma told ThePrint that there was now no hindrance to the former minister joining the BJP if he wanted to.
“Till he had the Geetika Sharma suicide case pending against him, the BJP had reluctance in admitting him. But now that he has been acquitted, he can join our party anytime,” Sharma said Wednesday.
He added: “Kanda’s HLP is already part of the NDA. His younger brother Gobind Kanda has already contested the Ellenabad assembly bypoll (in 2021) on the BJP’s symbol.”
Political commentator Yoginder Gupta told ThePrint, however, that it was unlikely that Kanda would join the BJP because contesting as an Independent or from his own political party would better suit the leader.
“Contesting from his own party provides him the liberty to support the party that comes to power in the 2024 Haryana assembly polls,” Gupta explained.
ThePrint reached Kanda for comment over phone, but received no response till the time of publication of this report. His younger brother Gobind, however, said he himself would continue with the BJP.
“My brother Gopal Kanda has announced that he would strengthen the HLP and broaden its base before the 2024 state election. However, I will continue to remain in the BJP and will contest the assembly election from Ellenabad,” he told ThePrint.
In the 2021 Ellenabad byelection, Gobind Kanda had contested against Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) Abhay Singh Chautala and received approximately 59,000 votes, against the approximately 65,000 garnered by Chautala, according to Election Commission data.
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The Kanda factor in Sirsa
According to Gupta, “the Kanda brothers are important for the BJP in the 2024 parliamentary polls because of the kind of clout they enjoy in Sirsa district, particularly in their own Agarwal community and among non-Jats in general”.
Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency was once a stronghold of INDL founder and former deputy PM Chaudhary Devi Lal, who was from the area.
Between 1987 and 2019, the INLD won the Sirsa seat five times in the 10 elections held there till 2019.
In the 1998 and 1999 parliamentary polls, INLD’s Sushil Indora won the seat, while Charanjeet Singh Rori from the party was elected in 2014. In 1988 and 1989, Het Ram won the seat for the party.
In 1991 and 1996, the seat went to Kumari Selja (Congress), in 2004 to Atma Singh Gill (Congress), in 2009 to Ashok Tanwar (Congress) and in 2019 to Sunita Duggal (BJP).
Five assembly segments of Sirsa district fall under Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency. Of these, the Kanda brothers have contested elections in three — Sirsa, Rania and Ellenabad.
Gopal Kanda won the 2009 and 2019 elections from Sirsa assembly seat and lost the 2014 one narrowly to INLD candidate Makhan Lal Singla.
Gobind Kanda contested the 2014 and 2019 assembly elections from the Rania seat and remained a runner-up on both occasions. He stood from Ellenabad in the by-poll held in November 2021, but lost to Abhay Chautala.
Talking about Gopal Kanda’s politics, Gupta told ThePrint: “Kanda started his politics with the Chautalas around 2000 and remained with them till they were in power in the state till 2005. Once they were ousted, Kanda started distancing from them. The distancing was complete once the INLD lost all 10 parliamentary seats in the May 2009 elections.”
“Kanda then contested as an Independent in the 2009 Haryana assembly polls and supported the Congress government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, though he had contested against the party. He subsequently set up the HLP and contested the 2014 and 2019 elections from his party,” Gupta said, adding that “immediately after winning the 2019 assembly poll, Gopal Kanda offered support to the BJP”.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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