Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol on Monday dismissed the criticism he has faced for being absent from his constituency Gurdaspur in Punjab. The parliamentarian uploaded a Facebook video criticising his opponents for “talking nonsense”.
Deol’s opponents had put up his “missing” posters near the railway station in Pathankot town, Hindustan Times reported. “Gumshuda ki talash MP Sunny Deol [Search for the missing MP Sunny Deol],” the posters read.
In a Facebook video, Deol said his opponents were speaking nonsense. “I just want to tell them that it isn’t their or my job,” he added. “It is the people’s job and all of us work for them.” Deol asked his political rivals to work for people, and that he would get in touch of them with them. “All of us are here for the people,” the MP added.
“I want to tell the people that the trust they have placed on me and based on that trust’s strength I have been doing a lot of small things and will continue doing so,” Deol said. “I will get bigger projects in the future because your trust is my strength.”
Congress leader Manish Tewari was among those who had attacked Deol. “Not surprising, same thing happened to his father Dharmendra in Bikaner,” Tewari, an MP from Anandpur Sahib, tweeted on Sunday. “Gurdaspur missed the chance of a good man Sunil Jakhar representing them again. Would have added to Congress’s strength in Parliament.” Deol had defeated Jakhar by 82,459 votes.
Tewari added that between May 24 and December 31 he spent 100 days in his constituency. The Congress leader also claimed that he had almost 100% attendance in the Monsoon Session of Parliament and 100% in the Winter Session.
In July, Deol was criticised for appointing writer and line producer Gurpreet Singh Palheri the representative to his constituency. Palheri was tasked with attending meetings and following “important matters” related to the constituency.
In response, Deol expressed disappointment. “It is extremely unfortunate to see a controversy being created out of nothing at all,” Deol tweeted. “I have appointed my PA [Personal Assistant] to represent my office in Gurdaspur. This appointment has been made to ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur to attend the parliament or travelling for work.”
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