Sunny Deol, actor and first-time Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur in Punjab, has triggered a 'row' by appointing screenwriter Gurpreet Singh Palheri as his 'aide' to co-ordinate with government functionaries on his behalf. 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.
Sunny Deol has outsourced his Lok Sabha seat to some Gurmeet Singh. Celebrities brought in to contest elections by parties just before elections to cash in on their celeb status are never interested in Public issues & do nothing useful in public life. A lesson for us pic.twitter.com/m24AdDx6Mj
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) July 2, 2019
"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.
The 62-year-old filmstar has been trolled by critics, especially the Congress
KTS Tulsi,Congress on Gurdaspur MP Sunny Deol appoints representative for his constituency: An MP represents people directly in House. He's answerable to ppl&if he thinks somebody else is more suitable to understand their grievances,then he might as well resign&ask him to contest pic.twitter.com/A0BTrgqtzh
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2019
Sunil Jakhar,Congress on Gurdaspur(Punjab) MP Sunny Deol appoints representative for his parliamentary constituency: In marketing,customer is always right, in democracy, voter is always right. One has to accept it.Voters never expected anything from him other than selfie with him pic.twitter.com/PAsGQuREbT
— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2019
.@tanvishukla: We want to see #SunnyDeol & other celebrity MPs participating in crucial policy discussions, contributing, as they need to realize that they’re not actors anymore. They’re elected representatives & their only job should be governance & service to citizens pic.twitter.com/3qo8a4r4qE
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) July 2, 2019
Sunny Deol said he had "appointed my PA (personal assistant)" to "ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur to attend parliament or travelling for work."
He said he wanted to ensure no work was disrupted or delayed and to keep himself updated.
"We have our entire party leadership in the constituency to look into matters who have my full support and vice versa," the actor asserted, adding that he was "genuinely committed to the cause of Gurdaspur".
— Sunny Deol (@iamsunnydeol) July 2, 2019