The long absence of Bollywood stars from their constituencies seems to have left people, who voted them in, annoyed. Not too long ago, Dharmendra faced the wrath of people in Barmer in Rajasthan for having ‘‘ignored’’ them. This week, it was the turn of Bollywood star and local MP Vinod Khanna. The latter has been absent from Gurdaspur since a year, ever since he got re-elected from here.Khanna was greeted by angry people wherever he went during his maiden three-day visit to his constituency. The crowds carried photographs published recently in newspapers, showing Khanna shooting for a film in Patiala. They just raised one question: Why had he ‘‘ignored’’ them.He spent a good deal of time explaining to people that he had been unwell and suffering from backache. Local BJP leaders, however, admitted that Khanna looked quite healthy while shooting for the movie. They added that they had repeatedly requested him to visit his constituency in view of the unrest.When spoken to, some residents came down heavily on Khanna for ‘‘having kept himself busy with the film’s shooting,’’ while sparing ‘‘too little time’’ for them. ‘‘How is it that he can take time out for shooting and not for us,’’ said one agitated resident of Sohal village, which Khanna had visited. They said his health problem was no excuse. Khanna promised residents that he would keep in touch with them in future. Before leaving for Delhi today, Khanna, seeing people’s mood, tried to pacify them, doling out grants to the tune of Rs 50 lakh from his MP Local Area Development Fund (MPLAD) to Panchayats, schools and various NGOs, for building roads, school buildings and health facilities.Political Advisor to Khanna, Samrinder Sharma, when contacted, said: ‘‘He has a back problem and is consulting doctors in India and in Singapore. Khanna felt that even if he had come, he would not have been able to move around, serving no purpose’’. Khanna, meanwhile, promised that the remaining work at the Pathankot airport would be completed soon.
