Actor Sonu Sood, in an interview to NDTV, said that the Congress party should name their chief ministerial candidate for Punjab soon and added that another chance should be given to the current chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, who has not been in the top job for a long time.
The actor stated that he is not associated with any political party and was quoted as saying, "I have met Channi, he is a grounded man and naturally makes you smile. His work as Chief Minister in the last three months is praiseworthy but it's very little time for anyone to work. It's as if you went to bat and have your eye on the ball but a tea break is suddenly announced. I think he should get to bat after the tea break as well."
Sood also called Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu a good and honest man.
Channi, a three-time MLA from Chamkaur Sahib constituency and a member of the Scheduled Caste community, which comprises 32 percent of the state's population, had taken over the post only months ago after Captain Amarinder Singh's resignation in September.
Meanwhile, the actor's 38-year-old sister Malvika Sood Sachar is contesting from their ancestral place Moga on a Congress ticket and the actor has been campaigning with her ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections, the voting for which will be held in one phase on 20 February.
On being asked about Sood joining politics, the actor said, "I don't have a big enough team to manage both my social work and also elections," he said.
Meanwhile, Sachar said on Monday, "I live in Moga city. We had thought of building a civil hospital here. I facilitated the COVID vaccination of several people and set up camps," ANI quoted her as saying.
She added, "I spoke with my brother that until someone between the two of us becomes a part of the system, we won't be able to bring in development in Moga. I thought I live here, why should I not be the one? So that we can reach out to the maximum number of people and help them."
Sood's comments come days after a video was shared by the Congress, cryptically suggesting that Channi may be the party's chief ministerial candidate for the polls.
The 36-second-long montage shows actor Sonu Sood delivering a message that the man for the chief minister's post is someone who doesn't have to campaign hard for his job.
The actor's speech is followed by visuals of CM Channi taking part in various activities and events, suggesting that he is the kind of candidate that Sood had outlined.
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