Deol keeps maiden Gurdaspur visit low key

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, June 16

Newly elected MP Sunny Deol ended his ‘thanksgiving’ visit to the constituency by addressing a workers’ meeting at his adopted residence, wherein he promised to bring in big-ticket projects.

Deol was, however, asked by senior party leaders to keep distance from the media. Confirming it, a senior BJP leader said the MP was given these instructions because the party knows that he was unaware of the local issues and “any discussion with the press may backfire”.

“Before coming to the constituency on Friday night, Deol was busy working in Mumbai. We didn’t get much time to brief him. Under these circumstances, asking him to meet the media would not have been the right decision,” the leader added.

In the run-up to the elections, Deol had failed to address even a single press conference or public gathering and his focus remained on roadshows sitting atop his Range Rover, especially brought from Mumbai.

Locals said they were looking forward to Deol’s visit but were left disappointed.

On Sunday evening, Gurdaspur district unit of the BJP sent out a press release to reporters which basically carried nothing, except the names of the office-bearers who had met the MP.

Deol left for Amritsar today afternoon, from where he headed for New Delhi.

Meanwhile, his decision to keep himself at an arm’s length from the public has triggered strong reactions from the Congressmen.

Congress leader and Cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said: “Deol should stop acting as a film star and instead be a true representative of the people.” “He should come out of his self-created cocoon. My experience suggests that voters have a habit of shunning leaders who shun them in the first place,” Randhawa added.