Sunny Deol, actor and first-time Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur, has triggered a 'row' by appointing screenwriter Gurpreet Singh Palheri as his 'aide' to co-ordinate with government functionaries on his behalf.
After Deol issued a statement, the letter went viral and the MP came in for a lot of criticism.
“I hereby appoint Gurpreet Singh Palheri, son of Supinder Singh, resident of village Palheri, district Mohali, Punjab, as my representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my Parliamentary constituency, Gurdaspur (Punjab), with concerned authorities,” the letter read.
Many trolled the actor on social media, sharing hilarious memes and dialogues from his films to poke fun at him. Many also questioned if this was possible and argued that it showed why people shouldn’t elect actors as lawmakers.
Twitter reactions:
Sunny Deol appoints a representative! @sifydotcom cartoon #SunnyDeol pic.twitter.com/InxVzeCsxq
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) July 2, 2019
Quite on expected lines.
— Man Aman Singh Chhina (@manaman_chhina) July 1, 2019
And Sunny Deol could not find one local person in entire Gurdaspur constituency comprising nine assembly segments to 'represent' him. Had to appoint one from Mohali, 200 km away. pic.twitter.com/5jMWsAqz9u
Apparently, Gurpreet Palheri has worked on Sunny Deol flicks like 'Ghayal Once Again' (2016) and 'Yamla Pagla Deewana' (2011) https://t.co/VOWr0KsYVD
— Shahid Abdulla (@TheDailyBunkum) July 2, 2019
When Sunny Deol is such a busy man that he has to outsource his work, why did he even contest elections? https://t.co/VZWmqlIOAU
— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) July 1, 2019
Is it allowed ??🧐😱🤔🤔🤔 @narendramodi @iamsunnydeol .is it constitutionally & morally correct?please clear us!! https://t.co/wniMxdsKbr
— Subodh Kumar💓🇮🇳 (@subodheee) July 2, 2019
Kyu aate hain ye log politics me! Wait I can do better, kyu chun ke laate hain hum log inko parliament me! https://t.co/VniLpwSLoM
— LOLendra Singh (@LOLendraSingh) July 2, 2019
The decision has not gone well with the BJP.
Deol announced that Palheri will look after the affairs of his constituency on his behalf. Party insiders said Palheri had also been authorised to take up issues related to Gurdaspur with Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal.
"Palheri's appointment is a clear-cut indication that he has been authorised to chair meetings, including review meetings of the Central government-sponsored schemes, on behalf of Deol," a senior state BJP leader told IANS.
"This is unfair of Deol as he is accountable to the people who voted for him," he added.
Deol was not available for comments.
Palhari has acted in Deol's movies, including 'Yamla, Pagla, Deewana', 'Ghayal, Once Again', 'Son of Sardar' and 'Manje Bistre' among others.