JULY 14, 2019 • THE WEEK 13POWER POINT
SACHIDANANDA MURTHYILLUSTRATION BHASKARAN [email protected]T
he plight of celebrities who become MPs is
sometimes pitiable. They get more attention,
especially when a celebrity from movies or
sports is parachuted into a constituency that he or
she does not know. After the thrill of the election
campaign comes the hard reality of serving a
thickly populated constituency with its myriad
problems.
Bollywood action hero Sunny Deol, who won
on a BJP ticket from Gurdaspur, Punjab, has now
realised the rigour needed for the next five years.
Deol, whose acting work is in distant Mumbai, has
made two unpopular decisions. He will visit his
constituency once a month,
and has appointed a full-time
representative to take care of
the needs of the constituents
and liaise with the bureaucracy.
Yesteryear hero Vinod Khanna,
a three-time winner from
Gurdaspur, had nursed the
constituency with regular visits.
Unlike Khanna, who went on
to become a junior minister,
Deol does not want to have
a big establishment even
in Delhi. Professionals in
politics who want to continue
with their jobs often find the demands of work,
constituency and Parliament taxing, especially
when they have to function from three locations.
Lawyers and businessmen manage the workload
more carefully, as they are better prepared for
political work, unlike stars who are asked to jump
into the fray at the last minute. Deol’s entry into the
BJP and the filing of his nomination happened in a
jiffy, as the BJP realised that only a celebrity could
defeat sitting MP and Punjab Congress president
Sunil Jakhar.
Gurpreet Singh Palheri, a scriptwriter who
is Deol’s full-time representative, is thrilled.
Incidentally, Palheri himself lives in Mohali,
210km from Gurdaspur, and may have tobecome a resident to represent a nonresident
MP. Deol’s supporters argue that even big leaders
like Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi,
A.B. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani did not reside in
their constituencies. While the Central and state
governments have specific rules on the role of MPs,
and the protocol to be accorded to them, there is
hardly any provision for an authorised proxy. In the
US, members of Congress can authorise their aides
even to convey their votes. In India, the MP has to be
present. Only the MP can sign authorisation letters
to the district collector for release of funds for local
area development. But in case of ministers and the
prime minister, constituency work
is handled by a representative.
Vajpayee’s Lucknow
representative, Shiv Kumar, had a
big office in the constituency and
in the prime minister’s residence.
Similarly, the team handling
Varanasi for Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has the ears of the
state and Central administrations.
But Deol is not a minister and the
state government is controlled
by the Congress, which does not
want to cooperate with the new
MP. Interestingly Deol’s father,
actor Dharmendra, had similar issues when he
represented Bikaner, Rajasthan, for the BJP. He was
not a regular to the constituency, and his opponents
had put up “MP is missing” posters. Another star
Govinda, though elected from his home city of
Mumbai, where he worked, found the pressures of
politics too much and opted out of a second term.
So did Paresh Rawal, who represented Ahmedabad
for one term. Even Rajya Sabha MPs from movies
and sports like Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar
and Mary Kom found it difficult to regularly attend
Parliament, due to their commitments. But Deol’s
political journey is a work in progress and he may
still find it better to represent Gurdaspur, than have a
representative there!When the stardust settles