Haryana election results 2019: Who is Gopal Kanda?

Gopal Kanda, the chief of the Haryana Lokhit Party, is among eight independents who will be crucial to garner numbers in Haryana where no single party is in a position to form the next government. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party has won 40 seats in Thursday's counting of votes in Haryana assembly election results 2019, still short of six to cross the halfway majority mark of 46 in the 90 member state assembly. The Congress party has won 31 seats, while the new kid on the bloc, Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party has bagged 10 seats. Indian National Lok Dal has won just one seat, while independents have grabbed 7 seats.

Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) candidate Gopal Kanda defeated his nearest rival Gokul Setia, an Independent, by a slender margin of 602 votes from Sirsa in the Haryana Assembly polls on Thursday.

Kanda is an influential politician in Haryana and served as a minister in the Bhupinder Singh hooda cabinet but had to resign after his name had come up in a case of suicide by a woman employee of his airline company - MDLR. Back then, BJP had protested demanding his resignation and arrest.

Kanda was earlier associated wih the Indian National Lok Dal when he decided to contest the Haryana election in 2009. Denied ticket by the INLD, he contested as an independent and won. He supported the Hooda-led Congress and became minister.

But, the BJP, which has taken a grandstanding against Kanda on several occasions, is now trying to court his support. According to reports, Kanda has met top BJP leadership on Thursday and is also negotiating with other independents for supporting another term for Khattar.

Earlier, the party was left red-faced when its member and popular Haryanvi singer Sapna Chaudhary had campaigned for Kanda.

A video message of Chaudhary seeking support for Kanda had gone viral on the social media, catching the attention of BJP leaders, days before the polling on October 21.

The saffron party had fielded Pradip Ratusaria from Sirsa. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed a rally in Sirsa district's Ellenabad on the last day of campaigning.