Actor Sunny Deol joins BJP, likely to contest Lok Sabha polls from Punjab's Gurdaspur

NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor Sunny Deol on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janta Party in presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman. As per reports, the 62-year-old actor is likely to be fielded by the BJP from Punjab’s Gurdaspur seat. After joining the party, Deol said "the way my Papa worked with and supported Atal ji, I am here today to work with and support Modi ji. My work will do the talking." Earlier this month, the actor known for his whistle-worthy dialogues and action-packed performances had met BJP Chief Amit Shah at Pune Airport. The meeting, according to ANI, had lasted five minutes but had fuelled speculations that the BJP might field Deol in Punjab. "It was a scheduled meeting. I don't know what conversation took place between them," Yogesh Gogawale, BJP district president said. "Amit Shah came to Baramati as per the scheduled programme. When he was at the airport, Sunny Deol was also there. He met Amit Shah for five minutes," he added. In 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014, late actor Vinod Khanna had won from Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency. After Khanna’s death, Congress’ Sunil Jakhar won bypoll in 2017 against the BJP’s Swaran Salaria. In the state, the BJP, an ally of the SAD, which will be contesting on three seats, has fielded Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri from Amritsar. The saffron party is yet to name candidates from Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur seats. All the 13 seats of Punjab will go to polls in a single phase on May 19. The last date to file nomination is April 29. The scrutiny of the nominations would be done on April 30 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature would be May 2. The nominations for the upcoming elections would be filed in the office of respective returning officers situated in District Administrative Complex from 11 am to 3 pm from April 22-29, excluding April 27 and 28.