Bollywood star-turned-politician Sunny Deol on Monday released a video message after posters declaring he was "missing" surfaced in Pathankot, Punjab. Sunny Deol has been a popular movie star in Bollywood, renowned for action movies such as Gadar, Border, Ziddi and Ghayal.
Deol joined the BJP before the Lok Sabha election last year and won from Gurdaspur constituency, defeating Congress veteran Sunil Jakhar by over 82,000 votes. Pathankot falls under the Gurdaspur constituency.
On Sunday, posters surfaced in public places across Pathankot, including at its railway station, titled, "search for missing MP Sunny Deol”, amid criticism that he was absent from the constituency.
In the video, a Punjabi version of which was uploaded on his Facebook page, Deol wishes the people on the occasion of the Lohri festival. A Hindi version of the video was also circulated.
In the video, Deol claims a long-pending demand of Pathankot residents to elevate the narrow gauge rail section running through the city had been accepted by the Centre, which has sanctioned funds for the project. Deol claimed the traffic jams caused by the narrow gauge rail section lasted "hours" and elevating it was a dream of late BJP MP Vinod Khanna. Khanna represented Gurdaspur four times in the Lok Sabha.
While he did not directly refer to the issue of the 'missing' posters, Deol says "opponents" were spreading news about him and ignoring the decision on the narrow gauge rail section. "They should be happy with the news [on the rail section]... this work is not mine or theirs, but of the people; we all work for the people," Deol argues. In the video, Deol promises to do more work, saying the trust by the people in him was his strength.
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Responding to the news of the 'missing' posters, Congress leader Manish Tiwari took a jibe at Deol, tweeting that his father, Dharmendra, had the same reputation. Dharmendra represented Bikaner in Rajasthan for one term in Parliament from 2004 to 2009 on a BJP ticket. His stepmother, Hema Malini, is the BJP MP for Mathura.
In July last year, Sunny Deol was heavily criticised for issuing a notification, declaring that his aide Gurpreet Singh Palheri would be his representative in Gurdaspur and would attend meetings on his behalf. The Congress then called the move a betrayal of the voters.
Sunny Deol was also heavily criticised for his record in Parliament: He attended only nine sittings and was absent for 28 days in his first session.
