BJP inviting top leaders, actors to sustain Sunny Deol euphoria

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, May 4

Not wanting the euphoria generated by its candidate Sunny Deol in his road shows to die down, the BJP is seeking to add some more political flavour by inviting top leaders, film and TV actors for public meetings slated to be held in the run up to the elections.

The actor flew to Rajasthan for two road shows in a chartered plane this morning. Tonight he is scheduled to fly to Rae Bareli (UP) to campaign for Bhojpuri singer Dinesh Partap Singh, who is pitted against Sonia Gandhi.

Party chief Amit Shah and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal will preside over a rally in Pathankot tomorrow. The party has made arrangements for the Deol to fly back to Pathankot in time for the rally.

Veteran actor Dharmendra will arrive on May 8, while his wife Hema Malini is also expected to be in the constituency in the next few days. Like Deol, her travel plans and other arrangements, too, are being made by the party headquarters. Only Pathankot Mayor Anil Vasudeva has knowledge of the actor’s movements, while no other leader, howsoever senior he may be, is privy to his plans.

“The BJP headquarters has decided to keep the local leadership out of the loop,” said an MLA.

“We do not want the excitement to wane. I have heard some Congressmen saying the BJP will not be able to sustain the excitement. They will be proved wrong,” said Vasudeva.

Deol, apparently heeding to the advice of senior leaders, has refused the bite the bait offered by Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar for a debate on local issues.

“I have come here to work, to be among my people. I admit I do not know many local issues. Probably that is why Jakhar is asking me time and again for a live discussion on local TV channels,” Deol told The Tribune.

To this the Sunil Jakhar retorted, “I fail to understand what the actor is doing here in the first place. He can neither read nor speak Punjabi, has no knowledge of local issues and he himself admits that his oratorical skills are not sharp enough to engage in a debate. Some BJP leaders confided to me that he does not even know Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s achievements of the past five years.”

Meanwhile, Jakhar has moved his campaign to another pitch by holding nearly 10 gatherings every day. Instead of touching one Assembly seat daily he has now started visiting two. He has sought to fortify his position by sending an SOS to his man Friday Sandeep Sandhu, who will oversee his campaign.

Sandhu, who was Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s OSD before he resigned to take up this assignment, arrived in the city yesterday with his team. He was at the helm of affairs during the 2017 bypoll, which Jakhar won by a record margin.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address a rally in support of BJP candidate Som Parkash in Hoshiarpur on May 10. The rally will be held at Roshan Grounds, where the entire senior leadership of the state BJP is expected to be present.