Actor and Gurdaspur lawmaker Sunny Deol dubbed the controversy over the appointment of his personal assistant as "unfortunate" and said that the move was solely aimed at ensuring "smooth flow of work" when he is out of the constituency.
"It is extremely unfortunate to see a controversy being created out of nothing at all. I have appointed my PA (Personal Assistant) to represent my office in Gurdaspur. This appointment has been made to ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur to attend the parliament or travelling for work," the actor-turned-politician said in a statement posted on Twitter.
He further said that the appointment was "to merely ensure that no work is disrupted or delayed due to any reason whatsoever and to keep myself updated on a daily basis".
"We have our entire party leadership in the constituency to look into matters who have my full support and vice versa," the BJP leader added.
He said that he was "genuinely committed" for the welfare of the constituency in Punjab and would do his best to serve "people to the best of capacity".
Earlier in the day, Congress leaders including Sunil Jakhar, who lost to Deol in the elections, said people only voted for him so that they could get a selfie with him.
Speaking to , he said: "As they say in marketing, a customer is always right, similarly in democracy, the voter is always right. It's their choice. One has to accept it. And even his voters knew they had it coming. Actually, they never expected anything else of him other than a selfie with him -perhaps."
Congress leader KTS Tulsi also came down heavily on Deol and said that he should resign if he cannot address their grievances.
In a letter, Deol announced that Gurpreet Singh Palheri will be his representative who will attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to his constituency.
( With inputs from ANI )