Dharmendra seeks people's support for Sunny Deol

Veteran actor Dharmendra Saturday sought people's support for his son and BJP candidate from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat Sunny Deol, saying his victory in elections will be a win of the people of this constituency.

Dharmendra, who arrived here Friday to campaign for his 59-year-old son, told reporters that he has come here to understand people's pain and to become the remedy.

When pointed out that Congress candidate from the seat, Sunil Jakhar, had invited Deol to hold a debate with him on local issues, Dharmendra said "we have not come here to hold debates, but hear out people's pain".

"Sunny cannot debate. Sunil has experience (of politics) and his father (Balram Jakhar) was also a politician. We have come from film industry. We have not come here for debate. We have come here to hear out the pain of people," he said.

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.

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.

All the 13 seats of Punjab will go to polls on May 19.