Soon after Gokul Setia, grandson of former Haryana cabinet minister Laxman Das Arora, joined the Congress in New Delhi, old pictures of his college days have started going viral on social media. His pictures created a sensation in Sirsa politics. In the pictures, Setia is seen with notorious gangster Goldy Brar. These pictures are from the days when Goldy Brar and others were studying at Punjab University in Chandigarh.
Setia clarified his stance on social media. He accused Sirsa’s sitting MLA Gopal Kanda of making these pictures viral. He claimed that Kanda’s TV channel was sensationalising these pictures, which are 10 to 15 years old. He said that the people seen in the pictures have taken different paths since then. Some have become IAS officers, some have gone abroad, some have got government jobs while some have gone into the world of crime. Setia questioned why it matters now what his college mates are doing after years.
Setia alleged that he had received extortion threats from Goldy Brar’s rival gang and accused Kanda’s associates of being involved in it. He said these photographs were being circulated as part of a larger conspiracy to malign his image.
To respond to this statement, Setia shared an old photo in which he, Goldy Brar and other students are standing with former Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. He said that I am not responsible for what choices someone has made in their life.
Setia questioned why these pictures were not circulated when he contested the 2019 elections. He argued that his opponents felt threatened by his decision to join the Congress. He challenged Gopal Kanda and said that the people of Sirsa would give him a shock through their votes in the elections.