Chandigarh/Gurdaspur: 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 as his representative to take care of the routine work in his absence.
The BJP MP has issued a declaration on his letterhead in which 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," the representative said.
Palheri, who is a writer and line producer, said the letter was issued on June 26. Attempting to downplay the issue, he said, "It (appointment) is for local issues. It is like being in 24-hour service of 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,” said Palheri. “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.”
Deol was targeted by the Congress in the run-up to Lok Sabha eletions for spending most of his time in Mumbai rather than in his constituency.
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" against 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 part of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency. "How can an MP appoint his representative? Voters have elected Sunny Deol as MP, not his representative."
Last month, the newly-elected MP had faced flak from the people of the constituency after posting a video on Instagram of his vacation in Himachal Pradesh's Kaza.
Deol became MP after defeating Congress' Sunil Jakhar with a margin of 82,459 votes in the Lok Sabha polls.
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