Gopal Kanda, promoter of the Big Daddy Casino cruise ship operating on the Mandovi River off the Indian state of Goa has won a seat in the Haryana legislative assembly elections. He is the first casino owner to win an election in India, G.laws reported.
Kanda, an associate of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Ajay Chautala, has won the Sirsa seat, which he previously as an independent in 2009. He also served as a cabinet minister in the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government but did not own a casino at the time. He lost the elections in 2014.
A candidate of the Haryana Lokhit Party, Kanda won out against independent candidate Gokul Setia by a slim majority of 602 votes.
According to reports, in 2005 Kanda launched an airline called MDLR, which later went bankrupt. Kanda has several criminal cases registered against him, including cases for abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, income tax evasion and check bouncing.
