To borrow Winston Churchill’s phrase, MP Sunny Deol remains a ‘riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’.
The actor is seldom seen in his parliamentary constituency which elected him with a whopping margin of 70,000 votes. His extremely poor oratorical skills have let him down on more occasions than one. It is precisely due to this reason that he never delivers speeches whenever he is among his constituents. Reason enough why BJP strongman Amit Shah, who personally coordinated his election from New Delhi, asked him to stop giving speeches in the run-up to the polls. The actor was actually asked to concentrate on road shows.
His visits to his constituency are indeed as rare as sighting an Igloo in the Sahara.
Residents have now started questioning his efficacy as a parliamentarian. They argue that if an MP is not interested in touring his area and addressing the grievances of the people, then what purpose is he actually serving?
His so-called advisers, and there are many, claim that Sunny “Phaji” is busy doing the rounds of ministries in the national capital trying to get important developmental initiates sanctioned.
However, a visit to ground zero proves not even a single project has fructified till yet.
Deol, not long ago, had anointed his blue-eyed man and Bollywood cameraman Gurpreet Singh Palheri as his representative to oversee the affairs of the constituency. The man was least interested in doing so and was seldom seen in the area. One fine day, he made his intentions clear and left for Mumbai for good. Now, a little known worker has been named as his PA. On his part, the PA is very selective in taking calls, a development which has not gone down well with Phaji’s voters.
It is a well documented fact that Deol was a reluctant contestant. His predecessor Sunil Jakhar had endeared himself to the constituents and was unlikely to lose unless the BJP fielded some celebrity. The party’s in-house intelligence reports had pointed out that Jakhar could be derailed only and only by a big time celebrity and that is why Deol was brought in.
If Phaji was reluctant to contest, he is now equally reluctant to visit the constituency.
Two big ticket projects are lying in a limbo. They are the elevation of the 3.6-km narrow gauge rail track running through the municipal limits of Pathankot and a 40-km-long the Qadian-Beas rail link. Both these ventures require Central intervention which, in any case, is not forthcoming. And in the future, too, what with the Covid-induced fear hanging in the air, the chances look bleak.
Post lockdown, ministers and MLAs have started visiting their respective assembly segments. With less than 18 months to go for the state polls, this development naturally assumes significance. Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa regularly holds meetings in Dera Baba Nanak while his ministerial colleague Tripat Rajinder Singh Bajwa, who has just recovered from a bout of Covid, takes stock of development works in Fatehgarh Churian. Likewise, Fateh Bajwa and his actor son Arjun, can be seen touring Qadian. In Sri Hargobindpur, Balwinder Laddi makes it a point to inspect the ongoing initiatives every third day.
Residents have now started questioning his efficacy as a parliamentarian. They argue that if an MP is not interested in touring his area and addressing the grievances of the people, then what purpose is he actually serving?
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