Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol, who was recently inducted in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha 2019 polls from Punjab’s Gurdaspur on Monday.
The actor offered prayer at the Golden Temple in Amritsar ahead of filling his nomination papers. Sporting a navy blue turban and wearing a blue shirt, the 62-year-old offered prayers at the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple. He also offered prayers at the Durgiana Temple.
The Bollywood actor joined the party on April 23 in Delhi, in the presence of Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal.
After joining the BJP, Sunny Deol said, “PM Modi has done a lot for the country and I wish that he remains the prime minister for another five years. Our youth needs people like Modiji.”
“The way my father and veteran actor Dharmendra worked with and supported Atal ji, I am here today to work with and support Modi ji. My work will do the talking,” Sunny Deol said.
The late Vinod Khanna had earlier represented Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat from BJP. Hema Malini, the BJP candidate from Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura seat, is Sunny Deol’s stepmother.
Thanking the people of Gurdaspur, Deol said: “I am here because you invited me. My father told me that you stay in the heart of each person in Punjab—son, go there and they will shower you with love. I want to tell you that I love you a lot,” he said.
He acknowledged that he is a novice in politics.
“Look, I do not know much about politics but I am a patriot,” he said. “I have come here to connect with you because I want our Punjab and our country to scale new heights,” he said.
“All of you join me and we will fight together, and win this battle,” he said
Deol will take on Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar from Gurdaspur.
He held his first roadshow after joining the BJP to campaign for BJP’s candidate Kailash Choudhary in from Barmer, Rajasthan
The BJP is contesting three of the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab.