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Backed by BJP, INLD, Kanda takes on Congress’ dark horse Setia
Sirsa's assembly election features a fierce contest between Gopal Kanda of HLP and Congress's Gokul Setia, with both backed by major parties, fueling intense competition.
The predominantly urban Sirsa assembly segment is one of the most watched seats as the election is set to witness a cut-throat competition for the second consecutive term.
This constituency has a blend of Punjabi, Bagri and Rajasthani culture where two-time legislator and former minister Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and Gokul Setia of the Congress are engaged in neck-and-neck contest.
In the 90-member Haryana assembly, this is the only seat where the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not contesting and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has also not fielded its candidate as both are supporting HLP’s Kanda.
BJP’s Sirsa candidate Rohtash Jangra withdrew his nomination after sitting MLA Kanda said he would support the saffron party if it formed government in the state for a third time. The INLD-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance has also announced support for the HLP and the INLD general secretary Abhay Chautala is canvassing for Kanda.
In the 2019 elections, Kanda won the seat with a slender margin of 602 votes by defeating Gokul Setia, who had then contested as an Independent. It was a triangular contest then where the BJP polled more than 30,000 while the Congress could gather only 10,000 votes out of 1.42 lakh votes polled.
The 35-year-old Setia is again seen as a formidable candidate and he is banking heavily upon the political legacy of his late maternal grandfather Lachhman Das Arora, who represented Sirsa five times and served as a Congress minister thrice. But Setia, who joined the Congress early this month, is facing discontentment from the party old guards.
A moneybag politician having diverse business interests, Kanda is known for his proximity with the Chautala family. But on getting elected from his hometown twice since 2009, a politically shrewd Kanda hopped into the Congress and the BJP when both parties fell short of majority. In 2009, Kanda entered the electoral politics for the first time as an Independent when the INLD overruled his desire to be the party candidate. He was elected after defeating INLD’s Padam Jain.
Congress heavyweight Bhupinder Singh Hooda, seeking a second term but failing to touch the majority mark in 2009, finally negotiated with Kanda. A hard bargainer, Kanda agreed to extend support and Hooda inducted him into his cabinet. In return of his support, Hooda allocated the portfolio of home affairs to Kanda.
But Kanda had to quit as home minister in August 2012 after he was booked on charges of abetment of suicide in the case of Geetika Sharma who worked in his aviation firm. In 2019, when the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP did not get majority, Kanda quickly offered support to the saffron party to form a government for the second consecutive term. Though the BJP maintained a safe distance from him because of his alleged involvement in the suicide case that made national headlines, the party leadership inched towards the cash-rich popular face in Sirsa after Kanda was acquitted.
Surrounded by supporters at his crowded political office at Hisaria Bazar locality, Kanda said on Sunday he is working for a Congress-free Haryana in which he has been supported by the INLD-BSP alliance. He boasts of his family connection with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
“My father Murli Dhar Kanda was an advocate and he had contested from the Dabwali seat in 1952 on a Jan Sangh ticket. Politics is my second way to work for the welfare of people as our entire family is also engaged in charitable activities for decades,” he added.
According to Kanda, the BJP government has cleared ways for the auto market which would be the largest in Asia and a medical college is also coming up. “Sirsa needs an agro-based industry and I will work to get a special scheme of incentives to invite entrepreneurs to invest in the constituency,” added Kanda.
On the other hand, Gokul Setia is heard pledging to demolish the political bastion of Kanda. Political watchers say ahead of the 2019 polls, Setia was expected to join the BJP but when the party announced another name for the Sirsa seat, he contested as an Independent but lost to Kanda by a narrow margin.
Known as a close contact of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief and the Ludhiana parliamentarian Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Setia finally jumped onto the Congress bandwagon. At a well-attended election rally at Choburjia village, about 25 km from Sirsa, Setia was welcomed by Congress supporters who weighed him against boondi ladoos.
Addressing in chaste Bagri, Setia appealed for votes to block the support of the Kandas (Gopal and his younger brother Gobind) who have announced to support for the BJP.
A graduate of DAV College in Chandigarh, Setia has a construction business in Chandigarh and its periphery and manages resorts in several Haryana districts. In his speeches, Setia avoids mentioning INLD’s Abhay Chautala who has not fielded a candidate against Kanda.
“The INLD is supporting Kanda and it would have been better if they also had a candidate in the fray. Sirsa needs an accessible leader like my maternal grandfather who also had a vision to develop the constituency. The BJP government’s announcement of opening a medical college is stuck in files and local people has to go to Hisar or Bathinda for treatment. There are several villages in the semi-arid region crying for better irrigation facilities but the government has not paid any attention to it,” he responded to queries.
