According to local BJP workers, the Member of Parliament has not entered the constituency in the last two years.
NEW DELHI: While actor Sunny Deol is busy making the sequel of his 2001 hit “Gadhar: Ek Prem Katha”, BJP leaders, workers and locals in his constituency are craving for the mega star’s glimpse in his Lok Sabha constituency Gurdaspur.
According to local BJP workers, the Member of Parliament has not entered the constituency for the last two years. Doel’s absence has directly impacted the BJP on the ground. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, BJP won two seats in Punjab, one in Gurdaspur and the other Hoshiarpur. Deol paid the last visit to his constituency in September 2020 and after that till now, he has been absent. Even last year, angry locals put up posters reading “Gumshuda ki Talash” along with his photo. “The party has to change the candidate if they want to retain this seat. Sunny Doel never met workers, local leaders and constituents,” a BJP leader from Gurdaspur said. “The worker on the ground is disappointed and his absence could also cost the party this seat,” he added. According to party leaders in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha, “If again the party gives the ticket to a celebrity, people will vent their frustration on that candidate.” Even last year, Deol was absent from the campaign in the Assembly elections. Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma’s Assembly constituency Pathankot falls in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha. In the 2022 Assembly elections, BJP was only able to grab two seats in the Assembly one in Pathankot and another in Mukerian in Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha.
In 2019, Sunny Doel was in a direct flight with then-Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, but now Jakhar is part of the saffron party and recently he was inducted into the national executive. Local leadership of the BJP is also speculating that Sunil Jakhar might be BJP’s pick from the Gurdaspur constituency. In the last general elections, Sunny Deol secured 5,58,719 votes and Sunil Jakhar got 4,76,260 votes, the winning margin was 82,459 votes.
In 2017, the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after the death of actor Vinod Khanna and the same year by-elections took place. In this election, Sunil Jakhar achieved victory with a margin of 1,93,219 votes and Swaran Salaria of the BJP-Akali Dal alliance got 3,06,533 votes compared to the winning Congress candidate’s 4,99,752 votes.
But now the scenario has changed; Akali Dal has broken alliance with BJP and Sunil Jakhar is in the saffron fold. “Sunil Jakhar does not only enjoy the support of the BJP but a faction from his former party Congress also supports him in Gurdaspur. If BJP gives him a chance, he can change the tide towards a positive direction,” said a Punjab BJP leader.