'After making zero contributions...": Congress slams Naveen Jindal after BJP announces his candidacy 

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh slammed industrialist Naveen Jindal and said the latter needed a "giant-size washing machine". Jindal, former two-term Kurukshetra MP from Congrees, joined the BJP. Jindal will contest from Kurukshetra as BJP candidate.

Taking a dig at the industrialist, Ramesh said: "When you need a giant-size washing machine, this had to happen. And after making ZERO contributions to the party in the last ten years, saying I am resigning from it is a big joke."

Jindal, who is the Chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited and Chancellor of OP Jindal Global University, made his resignation announcement three days after assuming the role of president of the Indian Steel Association (ISA), the apex body for steel producers.

Jindal was being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case pertaining to irregularities in allocation of a Jharkhand coal block. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was investigating the money laundering charges in relation to the allocation of the coal block.

Jindal represented the Kurukshetra constituency in the Lok Sabha for two terms. However, he lost to the BJP's Raj Kumar Saini in the 2014 national elections and was not fielded by the Congress in 2019. The BJP had won all 10 seats of Haryana in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Announcing his resignation from the Congress party in a post on 'X', Jindal said: "I represented the Congress Party in Parliament as MP from Kurukshetra for 10 years. I thank the Congress leadership and the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Today I am resigning from the primary membership of the Congress Party."