Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Thursday slammed party leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, saying “no one can repair” the loss he has caused to Congress party.

He also hit out at former state Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, who joined the BJP on Thursday after quitting Congress, and said he had told the Congress leadership including Rahul Gandhi in February to expel both Sidhu and Sunil Jakhar from the party. He said Rahul Gandhi did not listen to him.

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Congress, which was ruling Punjab, lost the assembly polls held earlier this year.

Sidhu was on Thursday sentenced to one year of imprisonment by the Supreme Court in a three-decade-old road rage case.

“No one can challenge SC’s decision…The loss Sidhu has caused to Congress party no one can repair. What Congress couldn’t do, SC has done today. In February, I had asked Rahul Gandhi to expel Sidhu and Sunil Jakhar from the party,” Randhawa said.

“The high command does not like if somebody speaks the truth, I had told them to remove them. They did not listen. Today they are having to see such a day. What Congress couldn’t do, SC has done today,” he added.

Slamming Sidhu, Randhawa said his words and actions had cost the party dear in the assembly polls.

“What he is doing today, if he had done the same before the elections, we would not have suffered such a loss. Don’t know at whose behest was he causing damage to the Congress party. In my entire political career, I have never got a president who caused so much damage to the party,” he said.
Randhawa termed Jakhar “power-hungry” and added his joining the BJP would not impact the party.