Summary:
PATIALA: Former chairman of Punjab Subordinate Services Board (PSSSB) and senior leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal Tejinderpal Singh Sandhu on Monday joined the Congress party. His mother was a three-time Akali legislator.Besides being the chairman of the PSSB, he has also held a number of posts during the previous Akali governments. He also remained Sanour Halqa in-charge during the last term of SAD-BJP government, but he distanced himself from the party after he was not given the ticket to contest during the last assembly elections. He said the entire party cadre was disappointed over the role played by the SAD leadership in dealing the issues of sacrilege and police firing at Behbal Kalan.His father Jasdev Singh Sandhu, had been a five-time Akali MLA and remained a minister in the Akali government and was considered close to SAD patriarch Prakash Singh Badal. He was welcomed within the party fold by chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee , Sunil Jakhar.Speaking to TOI over the phone, Sandhu said all Taksali families that have remained associated with the SAD since long were now feeling ignored within the party due to the autocratic style of functioning of the party leadership..