With Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) falling short of magic figures in Haryana to stake claim for forming government, the seven independent MLAs and Haryana Lokhit Party are playing a pivotal role in the state. Last night after the election results suggesting BJP as the major party in the state, the speculations of independent supporting BJP was high.

With Congress being the runner-up in the state with 31 seats, there were speculations of the Dushyant Chautala led Jannayak Janata Party to support Congress and the alliance to form the government. In the afternoon, Chautala even proposed to support any party if he gets the Chief Minister seat in the state.

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But with the day coming to an end, the share of seats for BJP reached 40, with only 6 more to form the government back in the state. Last night, Gopal Kanda, Sirsa MLA and Haryana Lokhit Party chief flew to Delhi along with other independent candidates to support BJP.

There was outrage on social media on Kanda’s support to the BJP. Many on Twitter smashed BJP for taking support from a ‘rape accused’.

In 2012,  Kanda was arrested when an air hostess with his airline company, Geetika Sharma committed suicide and left a note accusing Kanda of harassment. Kanda was arrested on charges of rape, abetment to suicide, criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation. Geetika’s mother too committed suicide after a few months and blamed her suicide on Kanda.

In 2014, the rape charges were dropped and he was released on bail. He unsuccessfully contested the Haryana polls and lost, the same year.

Kanda and his brother Govind were also involved in tax evasion and cheating cases and charged for alleged illegal property development in Sirsa in 2016.

Kanda is still on trial for the air hostess’ suicide.

Meanwhile, BJP senior leader Uma Bharti took Twitter to express her dissatisfaction over BJP taking support of Kanda in Haryana.

In a series of eight tweets on Friday, in first three tweets she congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with BJP leaders, Amit Shah, JP Nadda, Manohar Lal Khattar and Devendra Fadnavis for BJP’s performance in the two states.

In her later tweets, she came strongly against BJP taking support from Haryana Lokhit Party chief and rape accused Gopal Kanda.

2. जब तक मोदी जी की लहर नहीं आई थी, हम हरियाणा में दो विधानसभा सीटें जीतने पर भी खुश हो जाते थे। इसलिए हरियाणा में पहले चुनाव में सरकार बना लेना और दूसरे चुनाव में भी सबसे बड़ी पार्टी बनकर आना असाधारण उपलब्धि है। यह सब @narendramodi जी के तपस्या का परिणाम है।

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) October 25, 2019

4. मुझे जानकारी मिली है कि गोपाल कांडा नाम के एक निर्दलीय विधायक का समर्थन भी हमें मिल सकता है। इसी पर मुझे कुछ कहना है।

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) October 25, 2019

6. गोपाल कांडा बेक़सूर है या अपराधी, यह तो क़ानून साक्ष्यों के आधार पर तय करेगा, किंतु उसका चुनाव जीतना उसे अपराधों से बरी नहीं करता। चुनाव जीतने के बहुत सारे फैक्टर होते हैं।

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) October 25, 2019

8. हरियाणा में हमारी सरकार ज़रूर बने, लेकिन यह तय करिए कि जैसे @BJP4India के कार्यकर्ता साफ़-सुथरे ज़िंदगी के होते हैं, हमारे साथ वैसे ही लोग हों। #HaryanaElections2019

— Uma Bharti (@umasribharti) October 25, 2019

She referred to Kanda being the same person due to who a girl committed suicide and her mother also committed suicide after failing to get justice.

Bharti also said that the matter is in court, but him winning the election doesn’t make him free from his crime. She said there are multiple factors in winning elections.

She further urged the BJP to not to forget their basic principle and said the public is supporting Narendra Modi and his ideology.

She urged the BJP leaders to collaborate with those who are with clean image just like the other BJP leaders poses.