Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Gurdaspur
The battlelines have been drawn between actor and BJP candidate Sunny Deol’s charisma and the experience of three-time MLA and sitting MP Sunil Jakhar with residents in every nook and corner of the constituency debating the political competence of both the candidates.
Deol has yet to tour the area while Jakhar has already covered each of the nine Assembly segments in this constituency twice. A few seats have seen him touring more than thrice with Dera Baba Nanak being one of them.
The actor, after spending some time here, is scheduled to tour Rajasthan in the next few days as the party’s star campaigner. This means he will not have much time to spend in his own backyard, a development that is rankling his election managers. Locals recount the actor’s speech on April 29, the day he filed his nomination papers. “It was full of filmy flavour and lacked depth and vision. One-liners which the actor recites have become passé these days. What people want to see is development and how employment avenues will be generated,” said Cabinet minister and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.
Anil Vasudeva, Pathankot Mayor and the man who is handling the affairs of the actor in Pathankot, however, differed. “We have ensured that he touches local issues in his speeches. This plus his appeal and magnetism is enough for him to emerge victorious,” he maintained.
Jakhar, on the other hand, has the advantage of seven sitting MLAs working tirelessly for him like they did in the 2017 bypoll, which he won by a margin of 1.93 lakh votes. The Chief Minister’s ultimatum to these legislators, of whom three are ministers, that action will be taken if anyone of them doesn’t ensure win in his or her seat, is also going to have its effect.
“Deol is from a filmy background having roots in Mumbai while Jakhar, whose father Balram Jakhar remained Speaker for nine years, has politics running in his blood. The actor has yet to start campaigning while Jakhar, who has been in the field for the last one month, starts his day at 7 am and retires around 10 pm,” quipped a minister.
Jakhar remains unfazed about the star status of his rival. “When Vinod Khanna was given the BJP ticket in 1998, locals actually wanted to see an actor in flesh and blood. Now with every household having a TV, the fascination to see a star is no longer there. The voters have matured and they will never get blinded by the bright lights of Bollywood. People need education and health facilities and employment more than star sightings,” said the MP.
