Sunny Deol appoints ‘proxy’ to look after constituency

Actor-turned first-time MP from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, Sunny Deol, has run into controversy for appointing his ‘proxy’ as a representative for taking care of works in his constituency.

Sunny Deol’s move to ‘outsource’ his task in his constituency is being alleged as betray of the electorate who voted him to power. The decision has drawn widespread condemnation from various quarters.

Deol’s signed communique on his official letter head read, “I hereby appoint Gurpreet Singh Palheri.. as my representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my parliamentary constituency, Gurdaspur (Punjab), with concerned authorities.”

The Congress has reacted sharply. The Karnataka Congress today said, “New trend in serving people by BJP. In a shocking move, BJP MP Sunny Deol appoints a “proxy” to attend meetings with concerned authorities on his behalf. Proxy has started using govt vehicle and MP office of the constituency. This is betrayal of mandate and he must resign”.

Palheri, a close aide of actor Sunny Deol, is a writer and producer and resides faraway from Gurdaspur, Deol’s constituency. Palheri resides in Mohali near Chandigarh. He downplayed the controversy saying the appointment was for looking after local issues in the constituency.

Punjab cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa termed Deol’s move as a ‘betrayal’ of voters. “How can an MP appoint his representative? Voters have elected Sunny Deol as MP not his representative”, he said.

The Punjab BJP, however, has come out in support of Sunny Deol. BJP national secretary Tarun Chug maintained that the controversy is unfounded. He said leaders including Sonia Gandhi have appointed their representatives. He held that the appointment of representative by Sunny Deol is only to supervise and follow up on matters in the constituency.

Last month after winning the election, Sunny Deol drew flak from people after he posted his vacation in Kaza on Instagram. Deol had defeated Congress president Sunil Jakhar from Gurdaspur in his debut polls with a margin of over 82,000 votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Sunny Deol on Tuesday reacted on Twitter saying, “It is extremely unfortunate to see a controversy created out of nothing. I have appointed my PA to represent my office in Gurdaspur. The appointment has been made to ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur in Parliament or travelling for work.