HIGHLIGHTS
-- Sunny Deol greeted supporters from car as they gave him garlands, flowers
-- BJP's new star recruit was also given a hand pump by supporters
-- It was a throwback to his 2001 blockbuster movie "Gadar: Ek Prem Katha
BJP's new star recruit, Sunny Deol, was given a hand-pump by supporters at his roadshow in Punjab's Gurdaspur, from where he will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections. While giving a politician a hand pump may be seen as odd, for Sunny Deol, it was a throwback to his 2001 blockbuster movie "Gadar: Ek Prem Katha".
The 62-year-old actor was greeting his supporters from the sun roof of his car as they gave him garlands and showered him with flowers. Some supporters, standing close to the road, held up a hand pump to him. Mr Deol first smiled and folded his hands, but eventually obliged his fans by holding on to the hand pump for a few seconds.
Sunny Deol, in a scene in "Gadar", uproots a hand pump from the ground and uses it to fight off a hostile crowd that was rushing to attack him. The much celebrated scene in Gadar also has Sunny Deol's famous dialogue "Hindustan zindabad tha, zindabad hai, zindabad rahega".
Mr Deol joined the BJP last week, becoming the third member of his family to do so after his father Dharmendra and stepmother Hema Malini. The BJP has played on the patriotic movies that he has acted in from the time of his induction into the party. When he joined the party, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman referred to his 1997 hit "Border". In his first roadshow in Rajasthan's Barmer, famous lines from his movie were played on the loudspeaker as he greeted supporters.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted the "Hindustan zindabad tha, zindabad hai, zindabad rahega" dialogue as the caption for an image with the actor.
Sunny Deol has filed his nomination from Gurdaspur and is up against Congress candidate and sitting MP Sunil Jhakhar. Punjab will vote on May 19 in the last phase of the national election. Results will be out on May 23.