Sunny Deol defends appointment of 'representative' to Gurdaspur

Under fire over the appointment of a "representative" to stand in for him in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, Bollywood actor and MP Sunny Deol Tuesday said a controversy is being created out of nothing.

Breaking his silence on the issue, he said the appointment was made to "ensure smooth flow of work" whenever he was "out of Gurdaspur".

The first-time MP added that it was "extremely unfortunate to see a controversy being created out of nothing at all".

Deol had appointed Gurpreet Singh Palheri,a writer,as his representative to "attend meetings and follow important matters", a move widely criticised by the ruling Congress which termed it "betrayal" of the voters' mandate.

"I have appointed my PA (Personal Assistant) to represent my office in Gurdaspur. This appointment has been made to ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur to attend Parliament or travelling for work," Deol tweeted on Tuesday.

He said the intention behind such an appointment was "to merely ensure that no work is disrupted or delayed due to any reason whatsoever and to keep myself updated on daily basis".

"We have our entire party leadership in the constituency to look into matters and have my full support and vice versa. I, as an elected Member of Parliament, am genuinely committed to the cause of Gurdaspur and will do my best to ensure that I serve my people to the best of my capacity," the actor-politician wrote on his Twitter handle.

In a letter issued on the letterhead of the Gurdaspur MP, Deol had appointed Palheri as his "representative".

"I hereby appoint Gurpreet Singh Palheri, son of Supinder Singh, resident of village Palheri, district Mohali, Punjab, as my representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my Parliamentary constituency, Gurdaspur (Punjab), with concerned authorities," the letter signed by Deol read.

On Monday, Punjab minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa lashed out at Deol for appointing a representative and dubbed the move a "betrayal" of the voters of the border constituency.

The newly-elected MP had faced flak last month from the people of the constituency after he posted a video of his vacation in Kaza on Instagram.

Deol defeated Congress' Sunil Jakhar with a margin of 82,459 votes in the recent Lok Sabha polls.