Chandigarh/Gurdaspur, July 1: Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol has appointed another person as his ‘representative’ to take care of his constituency Gurdaspur. The move is likely to provide the Punjab Congress much-needed ammunition against the BJP Member of Parliament.
Deol on Monday appointed Gurpreet Singh Palheri of Palheri village in Mohali district of Punjab as his representative to take care of the routine works in his absence.
The BJP MP has issued a declaration on his letter head wherein he has ‘authorised’ Palheri to be his ‘representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my parliamentary constituency, Gurdaspur (Punjab) with concerned authorities.’
“We are there in Gurdaspur 24X7. We have our offices there. Sunny Deol has a proper plan in place to ensure that we are available to the people of Gurdaspur anytime,” Palheri said.
Palheri, who is a writer and line producer, said the letter was issued on June 26.
He tried to downplay the issue, saying, “It (appointment) is for local issues. It is like being in 24-hour service of people of Gurdaspur.”
Deol was targeted by the Congress in the run up to Lok Sabha polls for spending most of his time in Mumbai rather than with the people of Gurdaspur.
“All he wants to say is that we are available 24X7. It is wrong to assume that he is running away from his responsibilities. He is visiting the constituency regularly and will continue to do it.”
“He has prepared a team and we all are a part of it. I am not the lone representative. The letter is irrelevant in that context. He simply means that every ground level worker can be approached in Gurdaspur and he will help you”.
While it still remains unclear if an MP can technically appoint a ‘representative’ to take care of his constituency, the Punjab government has provided Palheri security and official vehicle.
Meanwhile, Punjab cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa lashed out at Deol for appointing a representative and dubbed the move a “betrayal” with the voters of the border constituency.
“Sunny Deol has betrayed voters of Gurdaspur constituency by appointing a representative,” said Randhawa, an MLA from Dera Baba Nanak, an Assembly segment which is part of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency.
“How can an MP appoint his representative? Voters have elected Sunny Deol as MP, not his representative,” Randhawa said.
Last month, the newly elected MP had faced flak from the people of the constituency after posting a video of his vacation in Kaza on Instagram.
Deol became MP after defeating Congress’ Sunil Jakhar with a margin of 82,459 votes in the Lok Sabha polls.
