It's celebrity card again in Punjab's border constituency

Its star power in Punjab Lok Sabha elections again literally The BJPAkali Dal has fielded the 62yearold from Gurdaspur the seat represented four times by yesteryear actor Vinod Khanna who died in April 2017 due to cancer Khanna a native of Punjab was a sitting MP at that time of his deathSon of veteran actor Dharmendra Deol who does not have any direct connection with Gurdaspur city though his father hails from Sahnewal town near Punjabs industrial town Ludhiana has a strong Punjabi appeal He is a Jat SikhDeol whose main priority is creating employment for the youth entered the Hindi film industry with Betaab in 1983 and his best hits include Border Damini and Gadar Ek Prem KathaDeols unforgettable dialogue from 1990s Hindi film Ghayal Jab yeh dhai kilo ka haath kisi pe padta hai na toh aadmi uthta nahi utth jata hai When this hand weighing 25 kg is kept on some person they dont get up they go up they will die echoes throughout his meandering campaign trail hereOne of his fans handed him a handpump at a roadshow a scene in his 2001 blockbuster movie Gadar in which Deol uproots a similar pump to fight off a crowd who were trying to attack a womanDeol is unfazed by the criticism and despite being dubbed an outsider by the Congress the actor says Im Punjab da puttar son of Punjab and farming is in my bloodLanding here on Wednesday straight from Mumbai Deol met families of soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the nation at a border village in Dinanagar areaI am not a hero as I only acted as a soldier The real heroes are those who sacrificed their lives for the country he told a familyGurdaspur lies in the north of Punjab sharing an international border with Pakistan and the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir The area is not as developed as other areas in PunjabDeol who is not missing an opportunity to pay obeisance to Sikh shrines and Hindu temples during his campaigning is pitted against Congress state unit President Sunil Jakhar who won the October 2017 byelection with a margin of 192 lakh votesThe bypoll was necessitated with sitting MP Vinod Khannas deathThe BJP did not give the ticket for the byeelection to Khannas widow Kavita Khanna a strong claimant for the seatWith the fielding of Deol Kavita Khanna expressed her disappointment saying she felt betrayed by the partyThe Gurdaspur constituency which has 1468972 voters including 726363 women has nine assembly constituencies It has a high number of serving and retired defence personnel and the BJP is trying to woo them by using the fauzi image of DeolThe former members of Parliament from Gurdaspur are Sukhbuns Kaur Binder of the Congress who won the seat five times in a row till 1996 when she faced her defeat from BJPs Jagdish Sawhney from BJPs Khanna 1998 to 2009 and Congress Pratap Singh Bajwa from 2009 to 2014Khanna got elected for the first time in 1998 followed by wins in 1999 2004 and 2014He lost the poll in the 2009 general election to Congress leader Bajwa with a slender marginIn 2014 Khanna had again won by a thumping margin of over 138 lakh votes A local BJP leader told IANS Khanna won his last election not due to his stardom but because of Modi wave This time too his magic will work here Moreover Deol is known for playing nationalistLocals believe the Modi wave might work for Deol too Deol who is a Jat Sikh will help winning the state as the constituency is dominated by the Jat Sikhs a senior BJP leader saidA confident Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar though said I have been a Dharmendra fan I like Sunny Deol as an actor The people will prefer a local than an outsider Deol I wish him all the bestHe is unaware of the issues of Punjab and Gurdaspur He should share his vision for Gurdaspur What is his agenda for the people here asked JakharThe Gurdaspur constituency has seen two major militant attacks by Pakistanbacked militant outfits in the recent pastIt is believed by the BJP that terror attacks and Deols stardom will trigger the BJP magicAs Modi has sent the air force to destroy terror camps in Pakistan after the Pulwama attack so is Deol who has thrashed militants with iron hands in movies So people in Gurdaspur like both Modi and Deol His stardom will catch votes for BJP a local BJP leader saidTough road for Congress Hindu candidate Jakhar to retain the seatJakhar who started his campaigning well ahead of Deol won the seat when the Congress government in the state just came at the helm Now after two years the government has antiincumbency This factor will make Jakhars victory tough admitted a senior Congress leaderIn 2017 most of the state ministers had campaigned for him Now even Jakhar doesnt enjoy a good relation with Chief Minister Amarinder SinghThe BJP in the state has an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab It is contesting three Lok Sabha seats Amritsar Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur while the Akali Dal is contesting the remaining 10 seatsPunjab will vote on May 19Catch up on all the latest Crime National 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