Veteran actor and former MP Dharmendra raised a few eyebrows on Sunday, 12 May, when he said that he "would have not allowed" his son Sunny Deol to contest the general elections from Gurdaspur had he known Sunil Jakhar was also contesting.
"Balram Jakhar was like my brother, had I known his son Sunil Jakhar was contesting from Gursdaspur, I would have not allowed Sunny (to contest against him)," the 83-year-old actor told news agency ANI.
Sunny Deol is the BJP candidate for the Gurdaspur seat in Punjab, where he is up against incumbent MP and Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, who had won the by-elections in 2017 after the death of Vinod Khanna.
Dharmendra further said that Sunny cannot debate with his Congress opponent as the latter is an "experienced politician."
“He (Sunil Jahkar) is also like my son. I had a very strong and good relationship with his father Balram Jakhar. Sunny cannot debate with him as he (Sunil) is an experienced politician and even his father was a very experienced politician, but we come from the film industry. Moreover, we are not here to debate but to listen to the plight of people as we love this land.”Dharmendra to ANI
Dharmendra further mentioned how he got emotional while watching his son's first roadshow from Mumbai.
The state of Punjab will be voting in the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha elections on 19 May, with the results for all phases set to be declared on 23 May.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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