Sunny Deol said he appointed his personal assistant to ensure smooth flow of work

Highlights Sunny Deol had earlier been trolled by critics, especially Congress

He had been accused of "outsourcing" his parliamentary duties

Mr Deol said a controversy was created "out of nothing at all"

Actor and BJP lawmaker Sunny Deol, accused of "outsourcing" his parliamentary duties by naming a representative to take care of his constituency, said today that it was "extremely unfortunate to see a controversy being created out of nothing at all."

The 62-year-old filmstar has been trolled by critics, especially the Congress, since he declared that he had appointed a representative in his parliamentary constituency Gurdaspur to "attend meetings" and follow "important matters". The nominee, Gurpreet Singh Palheri, is a writer.

Sunny Deol said he had "appointed my PA (personal assistant)" to "ensure smooth flow of work whenever I am out of Gurdaspur to attend parliament or travelling for work."

He said he wanted to ensure no work was disrupted or delayed and to keep himself updated.

"We have our entire party leadership in the constituency to look into matters who have my full support and vice versa," the actor asserted, adding that he was "genuinely committed to the cause of Gurdaspur".

The Congress has accused Sunny Deol of "betraying" voters by appointing a representative.

The opposition party reacted sharply to the first-time MP's announcement on Monday: "I hereby appoint Gurpreet Singh Palheri, son of Supinder Singh, resident of village Palheri, district Mohali, Punjab, as my representative to attend meetings and follow important matters pertaining to my Parliamentary constituency, Gurdaspur (Punjab), with concerned authorities."

Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said caustically: "Voters have elected Sunny Deol as their MP, not his representative."

Sunny Deol won his first-ever election in May after defeating the Congress's Sunil Jakhar with a massive margin.

The Mumbai-based actor joined the BJP weeks before the national election. His father Dharmendra was also a BJP lawmaker and his stepmother Hema Malini was elected for a second term this time. Gurdaspur was the constituency of Vinod Khanna, who died in 2017. He had represented the constituency four times as a BJP member - in 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2014.