Hours after joining Cong, Setia’s pics with gangster Goldy go viral
ROHTAK : Hours after Sirsabased leader Gokul Setia joined the Congress in Delhi on Tuesday, his photos with dreaded gangster Goldy Brar went viral on social media platforms. He joined the Congress in the presence of the party’s state chief Udai Bhan, party affairs Haryana in-charge Deepak Babria and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Setia, an Independent nominee, had lost the 2019 assembly polls from Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) supremo Gopal Kanda by 602 votes from the Sirsa assembly seat. His maternal grandfather, Laxman Das Arora, had become MLA on five occasions and his mother, Sunita Setia, had contested the 2014 assembly polls on BJP’s ticket from Sirsa but she lost the fray.
As per the information, Setia was a close friend of Brar when he was pursuing his graduation from Chandigarh’s DAV College in 2009. Reacting to the ongoing controversy, the newly inducted Congress leader said he and Brar had met former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar at his residence nearly ten years ago when Brar was active in student politics.
“If Brar was a criminal at that time, do you think Khattar would have met us? During college days, we were friends and he became a criminal after his brother’s murder. After that, I have no connection with him. Kanda has launched a malicious campaign against me to tarnish my image. He is afraid of losing the assembly polls. He can plot my killing too,” he alleged.
Setia further alleged that Kanda has launched a campaign against him to drop his ticket from the Congress party from Sirsa.
“At that time, my beard was black and now it turned grey. These pictures were 12 years old. If Congress gives me a ticket, I will surely ensure Kanda’s defeat from Sirsa,” he added.
Last year, Setia received a threat call from an unknown caller, who sought ₹1 crore of ransom from him. Later, the same year, an anti-tank force of Punjab Police arrested three criminals from Sirsa who were planning to kill Setia. On the police’s input, Sirsa SP had deployed three cops to give protection cover to the leader.
Despite repeated attempts, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan could not be reached for a comment as he was busy in an election meeting in Delhi.
SIRSA LEADER SETIA ACCUSED HIS RIVALS OF TARNISHING HIS IMAGE