Sirsa election result: HLP's Gopal Kanda suffers defeat by margin of 7,234 votes
Gopal Kanda, backed by BJP, was seeking re-election from Sirsa against Congress' Gokul Setia.
Gopal Kanda, the supremo of the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP), who was seeking re-election from the Sirsa Assembly seat in the Haryana assembly elections, has suffered defeat by a margin of 7,234 votes, as per the Election Commission. Congress' Gokul Setia bagged the seat. Follow live updates
According to the Election Commission, Setia won with a total of 79,020 votes, while Kanda got 71,786 votes.
Meanwhile, ruling BJP's Sirsa candidate Rohtash Jangra had withdrawn his nomination after the party hinted that it may back incumbent MLA Gopal Kanda, who has been supporting the state government.
"The decision has been taken in the interest of the state and the country. We have to ensure a Congress-mukt Haryana (Congress-free Haryana)," Jangra told news agency PTI.
The BJP, like the Congress, contested on 89 of the 90 Assembly seats in the state. The Congress left the Bhiwani seat for CPI(M). Voting took place on October 5, while the results will be declared on October 8. The ruling BJP is eyeing a hat-trick of wins but faces a stiff challenge from a resurgent Congress, which is looking to cash in on the anti-incumbency factor.
Also read: Haryana election results: AAP fails to make a mark, BJP consolidates lead
Gopal Kanda's political journey
Gopal Kanda dropped out of school and went on to build a business empire, after donning several hats - electrician, shoe shop owner, car dealer, real estate broker, industrialist, and airline owner.
A moneybag politician having diverse business interests, Kanda was known for his proximity to the Chautala family. But making a foray into electoral politics in 2009, he contested as an independent candidate and won, later supporting the Indian National Congress (INC) led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda. This alliance earned him a cabinet post as Minister of State for Home in Haryana.
But his political career has been marred by controversies, particularly the 2012 suicide of Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess with his MDLR airlines. Sharma in a suicide note alleged harassment by Kanda. Gopal Kanda was charged with rape, abetment to suicide, criminal conspiracy, and criminal intimidation but was acquitted in 2023.
In addition to the Sharma case, Kanda faced charges of tax evasion, cheating, and illegal property development in Sirsa.
Gokul Setia is seen as a strong candidate and 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 the 35-year-old, who joined the Congress early this month, is facing discontentment from the party's old guards.
In the 2019 elections, Gopal Kanda won the Sirsa seat with a slim margin of 602 votes over 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.
Sirsa assembly is predominantly urban and will be one of the most-watched contests in the Haryana assembly elections. The constituency has a blend of Punjabi, Bagri, and Rajasthani culture.
It comes under the Sirsa Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Congress candidate Kumari Selja won from Sirsa Lok Sabha (MP) seat with a massive margin of 2,68,497 votes by defeating BJP's Ashok Tanwar.