New Delhi, Aug 18: A small time footwear merchant of 90's from Sirsa Gopal Goyal Kanda's rise in public life is a dream story.
After suffering financial reverses in enterprise, Kanda moved to Gurgaon and started dabbling in real estate. Very soon he emerged as a business tycoon.
Gopal Kanda and his family did not own much property five years ago. However, when his assets were looked into, it was found that in the last five years, Kanda and his family had amassed properties worth hundred of crores which included acquisition of an aircraft for his MDLR (Murali Dhar Lakhpat Rai) Airlines company.
These facts clearly showed that Gopal Kanda and his family has acquired money through illegal means.
Gopal Kanda, Govind Kanda and their family were associated with a number of companies, MDLR Aviation Pvt Ltd (Gopal and his wife are Directors), MDLR Hotels Pvt Ltd and LKG Builders (Gopal and Govind are Directors), Nageshwar Realtors Pvt Ltd ( Gopal Kanda and his associate Gopal Gaba are Directors), Alankar Saphire Developer Pvt Ltd (Both Gopal and Govind are Directors).
Kanda had started mixing-up with Congressmen when INLD was routed in 2005 assembly polls. In 2009, he challenged Chautalas in their own backyard by contesting and winning from Sirsa assembly seat as an independent.
When the Congress fell short of a simple majority in 2009, Kanda was among the seven Independents to offer support to Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Hooda rewarded him and six other Independents with cabinet berths. In fact, after being sworn in as a Minister of state in 2009, Kanda was given the Home portfolio despite the fact that on that day he was facing trial in three different cases before Gurgaon courts including a case of rioting armed with deadly weapon, obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions, voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty, assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty.
Once his security guards thrashed former cricketer Atul Wassan after he tried to overtake Kanda's vehicle near Gurgaon toll plaza in 2011.
While tracing his antecedents speaks about how he acquired Kanda as surname. He writes Kanda as his ancestors were in the business of weighing at the Anaj Mandi. That's how they came to be known as Kande wale.
