Congress national spokesperson Sanjay Jha. (File pic)

Congress national spokesperson Sanjay Jha has openly expressed displeasure over the functioning of the party leadership. Jha, a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government, has said that the party lacks internal democracy and that decision-making powers are limited to Delhi.

In a series of comments to the media, Jha said that the Congress has become completely disconnected from the ground and is reluctant to change.

“The Congress has had a culture of being one of the more internally vibrant and democratic parties. But that is now gathering dust,” Jha told ThePrint.

“To the point that today we look very fossilised, status quoist and reluctant to change,” he added.

He also questioned the party’s decision-making powers. He said that the party high command did not consult its spokesperson before banning them from participating in TV debates last year.

He said that Maharashtra is one of the biggest states but the party goes there only during elections.

“The country is not Delhi,” Sanjay Jha said. He also said that the Congress should project itself as a party that is an alternative to the BJP, but it “isn’t happening”.

In May last year, after the Congress’s second consecutive drubbing in the general elections, then Congress president Rahul Gandhi resigned, but his resignation was not accepted by the Congress Working Committee. The CWC and senior leaders instead asked him to withdraw his papers and continue heading the party and undertake an overhaul. But Rahul didn’t withdraw his resignation and the CWC appointed Sonia Gandhi as the interim president of the party.

Earlier, senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Sanjay Nirupam have also lashed out at the party and senior leaders for their laid-back attitude and unwillingness to find a suitable leader who can head the party.