'Winning elections does not absolve him of crimes': Uma Bharti fries Haryana BJP over support from Gopal Kanda

Hours after tainted MLA Gopal Kanda offered to back the government of Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti took to Twitter to exhort her party to partner with only those who had a clean background and not to forget their organisation’s moral values.

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

“If Gopal Kanda is the same person because of whom a girl had committed suicide and her mother also committed suicide as she did not get justice. The case is still pending in court, and this person is out on bail,” she tweeted. [caption id=“attachment_4011763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Union minister Uma Bharti. PTI[/caption] In another tweet, Bharti said: “Gopal Kanda’s guilt or innocence will only be decided in a court of law. However, winning an election does not acquit him of crimes. There are many factors in winning an election.” Kanda, who claims to have the support from five Independent MLAs, on Thursday boarded a plane to Delhi for a meeting with BJP chief Amit Shah. “I would like to request BJP not to forget the morals of our party’s foundation. We have the power of Narendra Modi and the whole nation and the world are with him. Modiji has built the power of nationalism on the basis of ‘satoguni’ energy,” she tweeted. Earlier, Kanda had said that six to seven Independent candidates have pledged unconditional support to the BJP after talks with their top leadership. A former Haryana minister, Kanda won from the Sirsa Assembly seat by a margin of 602 votes defeating Independent candidate Gokul Setia. With 40 seats in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, BJP needs the support of six MLAs to cross the half-way mark to retain power in the state. Follow all the updates on the government formation in Maharashtra and Haryana here