Dismissing the possibility of any threat to Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Sunny Deol in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said that Deol was just a “filmy fauji” with no ground support in the constituency.
Speaking to reporters, Amarinder quipped, “He (Sunny Deol) is a filmy fauji, while I am a real fauji. We will defeat him. He is no threat to Sunil or the Congress.”
Singh accompanied Jakhar as he filed his nomination papers from Gurdaspur.
Describing Sunny Deol as an ageing actor whose acting career was over, Singh said, “He (Sunny) will come and go. Sunny might have played 23 Punjab’s Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri in Border but that does not make him a real fauji,” said the CM.
When a journalist pointed out that Sunny Deol’s latest movie ‘Blank’ was set for release, Amarinder further retorted: “He will draw a blank (in the elections).”
The CM rejected the possibility of Sunny Deol posing any serious threat to Jakhar in Gurdaspur, saying that the Congress leader has been working on the ground in Gurdaspur while the BJP nominee has no locus standi there.
“Sunny Deol will run away, back to Bollywood, and not be there for the people of Gurdaspur,” he added.
Expressing confidence that the Congress will win all the 13 seats in the state including Gurdaspur, the CM reiterated that he will go all out to ensure the complete route of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal in these Lok Sabha elections.
Amarinder said he had gone through Punjab and the mood across the state was upbeat, and totally in favour of the Congress. There was absolutely no competition to the party, he asserted, in response to a question.
Asked to clarify on the Congress high command’s decision to pin responsibility on ministers and MLAs for the electoral performance of the party candidates in these elections, the CM said it had been decided to hold ministers and MLAs responsible for victory or defeat of Congress candidates in their respective constituencies.
“If a minister is unable to ensure victory, he will be dropped, and MLAs who fail to deliver will not get the ticket next time,” he explained, underscoring the new performance-led culture in the party.