Kanda told reporters that he and all independent candidates have "decided" to extend unconditional support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
Gopal Kanda was arrested in 2012 for allegedly abetting the suicide of an air hostess. He was later released on bail. Pic/Twitter
Chandigarh: With six MLAs short of the number needed to form the next government, the BJP earlier on Friday was promised "unconditional support" by Haryana Lokhit Party leader Gopal Kanda, a controversial politician who faces a case of abetment to suicide.
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Kanda told reporters that he and all independent candidates have "decided" to extend unconditional support to the Bharatiya Janata Party. In Delhi a BJP leader had earlier on Friday said, five independent MLAs met the party's working president J P Nadda.
The apparent BJP move to accept Kanda's support was slammed by the opposition Congress and BJP leader Uma Bharti, who recalled the row in which the politician was involved when he was a minister in Haryana's Congress government in 2012.
In a tweet, the former Union minister cautioned her party that this could hurt the clean image enjoyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
The Sirsa MLA, who was arrested in 2012 for allegedly abetting the suicide of an air hostess who worked for his aviation company.
He was initially also booked for rape, but this charge was dropped when Delhi High Court granted him bail in 2014 in the abetment to suicide case. Geetika Sharma, once employed with Kanda's then MDLR airlines, was found dead at her Ashok Vihar home in Delhi on August 5, 2012.
In her suicide note, she said she was ending her life due to "harassment" by Kanda and one of his employees. Kanda denied the charge. He was booked in the case, in which he is currently out on bail. Chautala had earlier in the day said he would support the party that agrees with his organisation's common minimum programme.
'BJP's Beti Bachao gang takes in rapists'
The Congress, on row over Gopal Kanda, said BJP's "Beti Bachao gang" is "shameless" as it boasts of having a woman finance minister and then accommodates "rapists". "The country's daughters are watching what's more important to you — power or women's safety," said party's Sushmita Dev in a letter posted on Twitter.
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