The BJP is now on its way to comfortably forming the government in Haryana. The BJP has 40 seats of its own. Five BJP rebels won as independents, which already takes the BJP tally to 45 in the 90 member house. With JJP declaring support with its 10 MLAs, there is not much room for speculation left.
As such, the big spectacle yesterday, which received saturation coverage in mainstream media and the maximum interest on social media, was the case of one Gopal Kanda. He runs his own Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and has won from Sirsa, becoming the lone MLA of his party. In 2012, he resigned his ministry in the Congress led government of Haryana when he was accused of abetting the suicide of a flight attendant who worked for his (now defunct) MDLR Airlines. When it was reported that the BJP would be taking his support, it resulted in an outcry on all platforms.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra herself stepped in to denounce the BJP over these reports.
But here is something highly inconvenient to the Congress narrative and the larger liberal outrage that was totally missed yesterday.
Bhupinder Hooda confirmed to The Indian Express that he had appealed to Gopal Kanda’s HLP for support in forming the government in Haryana. He confirmed that he was waiting for a response from Gopal Kanda. According to Bhupinder Hooda, this was the way to show respect to the people’s mandate.
Don’t ask me why. Ask him.
Did Priyanka Gandhi Vadra know this when she said that every self-respecting woman should boycott the BJP?
If she did not, will Priyanka now publicly reprimand Bhupinder Singh Hooda for seeking the support of Gopal Kanda?
Let’s be clear about this: BJP said NO to Gopal Kanda. But it was Gopal Kanda who said NO to Congress.