Daijiworld Media Network - Chandigarh
Chandigarh, Feb 17: Expelled Congress leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu has launched a sharp attack on senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of being disconnected from ground realities and predicting that the Congress would lose the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections if corrective steps are not taken.
Addressing a rally in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Sidhu said Gandhi “talks sense” but fails to translate his words into action. She claimed that for eight months she had sought time to raise concerns about alleged irregularities within the Punjab unit, including accusations that Assembly election tickets had already been “sold”, but received no response.
“If you don’t know what’s happening beneath you, then I’m sorry. You don’t deserve that chair,” she remarked, holding Gandhi accountable for the party’s situation in Punjab and triggering fresh unrest within the state unit.
Sidhu further alleged that assurances made to her and her husband, senior Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, including the promise of a deputy chief minister’s post and a Lok Sabha ticket, were not honoured.
Questioning Gandhi’s anti-corruption stance, she accused members of his inner circle of protecting corrupt leaders while sidelining honest party workers. “Why are you talking against corruption when your own people are corrupt? You have no time for the honest people who want to tell you what is going wrong,” she said.
Sidhu was expelled from the Congress on February 6 after she alleged that aspirants for Punjab’s chief minister’s post were expected to pay “Rs 500 crore in a suitcase” — a claim that sparked controversy and deepened the party’s crisis in the state. She later said her remarks were misinterpreted. Prior to her expulsion, she had been suspended in December 2025.
Taking to social media platform X, Sidhu intensified her criticism, accusing Gandhi of delayed decision-making and alleging that his advisers were keeping him insulated from grassroots realities.
Her comments have fuelled speculation about a possible return to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which she had joined in 2012 before switching to Congress in 2016.
In a parting remark, Sidhu said she would continue to focus on Punjab’s welfare, even if outside active party politics, while reiterating her belief that the Congress faces a tough road ahead in the state.