Former Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker and veteran actor Dharmendra on Sunday appeared to be in a flux over his son Sunny Deol’s candidature from Gurdaspur. Sunny Deol is contesting on a BJP ticket from the parliamentary constituency in Punjab, one that Dharmendra’s close friend Balram Jakhar had represented before he passed away and with whose family he still shares close ties.
Speaking to the media, Dharmendra apparently let go of his emotions and said that he would never have allowed his son Sunny Deol to fight the Lok Sabha elections from Gurdaspur had he known that he was up against Congress’s Sunil Jakhar. “Balram Jakhar was like a brother to me. If I had known his son Sunil Jakhar was fighting from Gurdaspur, I would have not allowed Sunny to contest against him,” the octogenarian told news agency ANI.
In April, Sunny Deol was given the BJP ticket from Gurdaspur, just days after he joined the saffron party following the footsteps of his father and stepmother. Sunny does not have any political or administrative experience and is banking purely on his fan following to connect with the masses. His statements during campaigning also revolve around his patriotism and will to work for the people.
A political novice by his own admission, Sunny was recently caught off guard when a reporter covering his campaign asked him about the Balakot air strikes. Sunny replied saying he did not know anything about any air strike and was only bothered about winning the election. “I do not know much about issues like Balakot strikes or India’s relations with Pakistan. I am here to serve people; if I win maybe I will have an opinion, right now I don’t.”
Dharmendra, while campaigning for his son Gurdaspur earlier this month, said that his son “cannot debate” with an experienced politician such as Sunil Jakhar who was like a son to him.
“He (Sunil) is also like my son I had a very strong and good relationship with his father Balram Jhakhar. Sunny cannot debate with him as he (Sunil) is an experienced politician and even his father was a very experienced politician, but we come from the film industry. Moreover, we are not here to debate but to listen to the plight of people as we love this land,” Dharmendra told ANI.
However, the veteran said that he was grateful for the love people give his family. “I was observing the roadshow from Mumbai and a big crowd was there. I got emotional. I know people love us but I was surprised when I saw so much love,” Dharmendra was quoted as saying.
The people of Punjab will vote on May 19 in the final phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat
The fight between Sunny Deol and Sunil Jakhar is garnering interest as Gurdaspur has been a keenly contested seat between the BJP and the Congress. Actor-turned-politician Vinod Khanna won four times from Gurdaspur – 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014. Congress party’s Partap Singh Bajwa had emerged as a victor in 2009 lok sabha elections, defeating Khanna.
Congress party’s Sunil Jakhar won the Gurdaspur seat in 2017 during the by-elections after Khanna’s death.