Appointed 'Representative' to Ensure No Work is Delayed in My Absence, Clarifies Sunny Deol

New Delhi: Actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol, who attracted criticism after appointing another person as his ‘representative’ to take care of his constituency Gurdaspur in Punjab, on Tuesday said the decision was taken to ensure that no work is disrupted or delayed during his absence.

Deol, who named Gurpreet Singh Palheri of Palheri village in Mohali district as his representative to take care of the routine work in his absence, said the appointment was made to ensure smooth flow of work whenever "I am out of Gurdaspur to attend the parliament or travelling for work".

“The intention is to merely ensure that no work is disrupted or delayed due to any reason whatsoever and to keep myself updated on a daily basis," Deol said in a post on his Twitter account. “We have our entire party leadership in the constituency to look into matters who have my full support and vice-versa."

“It is extremely unfortunate to see a controversy being created out of nothing," he said in a post on his Twitter account.

Deol was targeted by the Congress in the run-up to Lok Sabha eletions for spending most of his time in Mumbai rather than in his constituency.

Deol's appointment of Palheri had kicked up controversy, with Punjab cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa dubbing the move a "betrayal" against the voters of the border constituency.