In the midst of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Bollywood actor Sunny Deol joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the 23rd of April.
Sunny Deol joined the party in the presence of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
“The way my father (film star Dharmendra) was attached with Atalji, today I have come to join Modiji. Whatever I can do for this family (BJP), I will do it….I won’t talk, I will show you through my work,” said Deol while joining the BJP.
Sunny Deol’s father and veteran actor Dharmendra contested the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Bikaner, Rajasthan.
While welcoming Sunny Deol to the BJP, Nirmala Sitharaman referred to his superhit film Border and said Deol was always a nationalist. “Sunny Deol made the film Border which showed how the feeling of nationalism and patriotism when portrayed beautifully on film can touch a cord with the people,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
Agreeing with her statement, Piyush Goyal added by saying, “It cannot be acting when it comes from the heart.”
Sunny Deol is the third member of the Deol family not only to join active politics, but to become a part of the BJP as well. Previously, his father Dharmendra and stepmother Hema Malini both contested the Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
While Dharmendra only had a brief appearance in politics in 2004, his wife, Hema Malini, is currently contesting for reelections from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. It is likely the BJP will nominate Sunny Deol to stand for the elections from Gurdaspur in Punjab.
At the moment, the BJP has three out of the 13 seats in Punjab, Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur. No official announcement about Sunny Deol’s seat was made so far.
Polling for the Punjab seats will take place in a single phase, on the 19th of May, the last day of the elections.
Stay tuned for more updates.
