Many politicians face serious charges, I’m not the only one: Kanda

For nearly 36 hours after the Haryana assembly election results were announced, till BJP and JJP decided to form an alliance, Gopal Kanda had found himself in the role of potential kingmaker, shepherding a bloc of Independents towards BJP. The former minister, an accused in suicide abetment cases of his employee Geetika Sharma and her mother Anuradha, was elected from Sirsa and extended support to BJP. On Friday, while he waited in his plush Gurgaon office for that crucial phone call from Delhi to seal the deal, he spoke to TOI’s Joel Joseph. Excerpts

Your photo with BJP leaders on a plane is trending. So who approached whom?

The moment I won, I announced I would support the BJP government unconditionally. There was no coercion. There was no way to get to Delhi from Sirsa at that late hour, so I flew with them.

Who did you meet in Delhi?

I met JP Nadda (BJP working president) and Anil Jain (BJP’s Haryana in-charge). I am yet to meet (Amit) Shah and (Narendra) Modi.

The Geetika Sharma suicide case is in the spotlight again...

The only ones bringing it up are my political opponents. This is what they do. However, since the case is sub judice, I won’t talk about it. The court has not held me guilty yet. There are many political leaders facing serious charges, I am not the only one.

Your new allies have also criticised you in the past.

I don’t recall a single person from BJP who said anything attacking me. No one even asked me to resign (when he was a minister). I did so on my own after an FIR was registered against me.

Why did you approach BJP?

The people of Sirsa elected me as their representative and I will serve them. This is why I decided to support BJP – because being in the government can ensure that development works get done, and fast.

Did you decide against supporting Bhupinder Singh Hooda because he did not back you in the case?

My father has been associated with RSS for a very long time. During Emergency, he was imprisoned for one and a half years. He contested as a Jan Sangh candidate twice from Sirsa. To honour this, I had to support BJP.

But you supported the Hooda government earlier…

Last time (in 2009), the situation was exactly the reverse. BJP had just four seats. There was no way they could have come into power even if I supported them. Congress, on the other hand, had secured 40 seats and was in a position to form the government.

Do you hope to revive your airline MDLR?

MDLR will never fly again.