Punjab Elections 2022: Bollywood actor Sonu Sood’s appointment as state icon of Punjab removed by ECI
Sood has been supporting his younger sister Malvika Sood Sachar who has announced to contest the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.
FollowIn a development that is being viewed from different political perspectives, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday withdrew the appointment of Bollywood actor Sonu Sood as the state icon of Punjab. Punjab chief electoral officer (CEO) S Karuna Raju confirmed the development to media persons and said Sood’s appointment was withdrawn on January 4.
Sood has been supporting his younger sister Malvika Sood Sachar who has announced to contest the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.
“To be the ECI’s state icon, we need a person who is apolitical and without any affiliation or association with any political party, its activities or politicians. So we recommended his removal as state icon, which the ECI has approved. I spoke to Sood and communicated to him. We also thanked him for the wonderful journey we had,” said Raju, adding that a written communication in this regard was also sent to the actor.
In recent days, Sood had visited Punjab several times and met political personalities, including Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and president of Shiromani Akali Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal.
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A report on The Indian Express quoted Karuna Raju saying that the decision was taken after taking notice of some media reports on the actor's recent meetings with political personalities. In recent days, Sood had visited Punjab several times and met political personalities, including Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and president of Shiromani Akali Dal Sukhbir Singh Badal.
He had also held a press conference a few weeks back announcing that his sister Malvika Sood Sachar would be contesting polls from Moga. Recently, he was camping in the constituency and touring villages with her sister for her campaign, the report added.
Sonu Sood’s appointment as State Icon of Punjab by the Election Commission came after his relentless work through the lockdown in helping migrant workers across the country get home safely. Apart from that, Sonu Sood had also donated food, shelter and PPE kits to those who needed them.
