Haryana: Gopal Kanda supports BJP, Uma Bharti talks about "values"

Kanda made it to headlines in 2012 after a 23-year-old air hostess named Geetika Sharma committed suicide.

In her note, Geetika, who worked with now-defunct MDLR Airlines, said Kanda's harassment drove her to take the extreme step. Six months after the tragic incident, her mother also ended her life.

After the case sparked outrage, Kanda was arrested and got bail in 2014.

Yesterday, after BJP won 40 of 90 Assembly seats, Kanda, who won from Sirsa, flew down to Delhi for "discussions".

He was accompanied by other independents.

Confirming that a consensus has been reached, Kanda announced today, "We will support the BJP unconditionally. My father was in the RSS, so we are part of the family. We have all agreed to support the BJP."

The recent development got BJP criticism from many quarters, and surprisingly even those within the party are not happy that Kanda's help is being sought.

One of the first ones who voiced her opinion was Bharti, the National Vice President of BJP.

Taking to Twitter, she urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to maintain distance from the controversial politician.

Bharti started her series of tweets, written in Hindi, by congratulating Devendra Fadnavis, Manohar Lal Khattar, Shah, and PM Modi, for winning Maharashtra and Haryana.

She then reminded the leaders that Kanda is accused of abetting the suicide of two women, and it's best that the party doesn't get involved with him.

"He is currently out on bail," she added.

Saying that the court will decide whether Kanda is innocent or not, Bharti added that one can't be absolved of his crimes just because they won.

"There are many factors in winning an election," she wrote.

Expressing confidence that BJP will form a government in the northern state, Bharti appealed to the decision-making leaders to not compromise on ethics and values.