New Delhi:
Veteran actor and former BJP leader Dharmendra recently said that he would not have allowed his son Sunny Deol to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Gurudaspur, had he known that his friend Balram Jakhar’s son is in the fray. Balram Jhakar’s son Sunil is Congress’s candidate from the seat.
"Balram Jakhar was like my brother, had I known his son Sunil Jakhar was contesting from Gurdaspur, I would have not allowed Sunny (to contest against him)," Dharmendra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Dharmendra said this while he was seeking people's support for his son Sunny Deol.
Sunil Jakhar won the seat in the 2017 bypoll, which was necessitated after the death of Vinod Khanna in April that year. The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat had been represented by late actor Vinod Khanna four-times--1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014.
Dharmendra, who is campaigning for 62-year-old son, told reporters that he has come to Gurdaspur to understand people's pain and to become the remedy.
Dharmendra said Sunil Jakhar is like his son as he had good relations with his father and former Lok Sabha speaker Balram Jakhar.
He said he had refused to contest against Balram Jakhar from Churu in Rajasthan in 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Dharmendra had then contested from Bikaner seat on BJP ticket.
Dharmendra said he got emotional to see people supporting Sunny Deol on his first roadshow which he held after filling nomination papers for the Gurdaspur seat.
"I was watching the roadshow of Sunny from Mumbai and there was a big crowd in the roadshow. I got emotional. I know people love us but I was surprised by seeing so much love," Dharmendra said.
He said he had come here to do "heart-to-heart talk" with people. "I do not give speeches, I just talk to them. What is in a speech? I am not a politician," he said.
Dharmendra further said he was once asked by the BJP to contest from Patiala seat, but he refused.
"I told them that Amarinder Singh family loves me a lot and his wife (Preneet Kaur) is like my sister and told them that I will not contest from Patiala," he said.
All the 13 seats of Punjab will go to polls on May 19.
