Actor and stand-up comedian Gurpreet Ghuggi on Wednesday joined Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here.
Ghuggi, originally hailing from Gurdaspur, was inducted in AAP in the presence of Sanjay Singh, Incharge Party affairs in Punjab, Suchha Singh Chhotepur Convener and Bhagwant Mann the another famous comedian.
Addressing media here, Sanjay Singh, senior leader of AAP said party will benefit with the joining of Ghuggi as it will also give a positive message among people especially youth of state.
Ghuggi, after joining the party, said he was impressed with the work done by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who brought "practical agenda and approach" on the political landscape to resolve peoples issues which was lacking in other traditional parties.
“(Parkash Singh) Badal and Amarinder are traditional leaders, Kejriwal brought new formula, practical agenda which I do not see in other political parties,” Ghuggi said. Ghuggi, 44, who had worked in Hindi movies like ‘Namastey london’, ‘Race’, however, said he had neither been a politician nor was interested in it.
"But it really hurts you when you read news about farmers committing suicides every day after they could not pay their debt. Then today's youth becoming manner less on roads with no political will to stop them and most importantly, youth of Punjab are taking drugs, a curse which is driving divorce and making youth impotent" he said.
“AAP gives me a platform by way of which I can share pain of people and highlight them.. in building new Punjab. It is a debt which I wanted to repay to my soil and State,” he said.
Asked whether he will contest Punjab assembly polls, Ghuggi said he had no “motive” to contest polls.
“But if the party orders me to do so, I will have to follow its directions," he said, adding that he would like to work for Gurdaspur and Amritsar area. "It is shameful that our farmers whose debt could be as low as `25,000 are ending their lives. Today there is adulteration in food, milk, fruits... I will also work in this regard," he said.
Ghuggi has worked in Hindi movies like Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Singh is King’, ‘Humko Deewana Kar Gaye’. He has also acted in Punjabi flicks like ‘Asa Nu Maan Watna Da, Yaara Naal Bahaara, Jijja Ji, Munde UK De’.
Ghuggi, further said that he would continue to work in film industry despite being a party member and will appear in 10 movies which will be released this year.
Reacting on the issue of departure of Singer Balkaar Sidhu from the party, Sanjay Singh said that Balkaar was not a member of AAP as he had fought election against the party as an independent candidate.
Ghuggi said, “It really hurts you when you read news about farmers committing suicides every day after they could not pay their debt. Then today's youth becoming manner less on roads with no political will to stop them and most importantly, youth of Punjab are taking drugs, a curse which is driving divorce and making youth impotent”.
He said that farmers in the state were committing suicide just for a debt as low as `25,000. Extending an invitation to Navjot Singh Sidhu to join AAP, Ghuggi said that the sound decision of Sidhu will be a boon for the State.
Expressing hope with the strategy of AAP he said that party had already identified certain core issues to work on and he would like to add some issues that he thinks need consideration of political leaders. He said, “AAP gives me a platform where I can share pain of people and highlight them in building new Punjab.”
Terming Parkash Singh Badal and Captain Amarinder Singh to be traditional leaders, Ghuggi said that a new approach in politics was the need of the hour as the country is now considered the most young country in the world.