A committed soldier: Sanjay Jha after being removed as Congress-spokesperson
Congress removed Sanjay Jha, one of its most popular faces on television channels, as a spokesperson on Wednesday, days after he wrote an article criticizing the party. Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Jha said he will always remain a dedicated soldier of the party. His removal from the post was approved by AICC President Sonia Gandhi, who took over party's reins "temporarily" in 2019.
Coronavirus induced quarantine gave Jha time to reflect
Notably, Jha contracted coronavirus in May and went into home-isolation. At that time, he had appealed against taking the disease frivolously, pointing out that all of us are vulnerable. Meanwhile, in his article published in The Times of India, he started by saying that the quarantine time gave him space to introspect.
"In companies, CEOs receive ire for failures, in Congress none"
Explaining why he thought to write the article, Jha launched an attack on Congress in the third paragraph. Likening the party to a company, he said a CEO or board is slammed when the organization fails. But within Congress, this doesn't happen. Congress has displayed "extraordinary lassitude, and its lackadaisical attitude towards its own political obsolescence is baffling," he wrote.
Jha said the disintegration of Congress pained him
He added he swore by Gandhian philosophy and Nehruvian outlook, hence, the painful disintegration of Congress pained him. "It does not make sense, especially given the fact that the current regime appears clueless in even elementary governance ever since the pandemic affected not just hapless individuals, but poor migrants and daily wage labor, besides jeopardizing the economy," he said about the current BJP government.
Social media wars not the answer, alternative is needed: Jha
"There are hard days ahead, but barring sporadic outbursts of a few constructive initiatives, the Congress hasn't created an alternative white paper on governance for India. This is the time for it to do so, instead of waging a social media hashtag tornado," he wrote.
No room for democracy in Congress: Jha
Further, Jha noted that Congress doesn't have a dearth of talent, but most of the partymen are more interested in self-preservation. They don't give importance to changing the situation. He also demolished the notions about Congress being a democratic party, writing in the second paragraph itself, "It is a false claim that there exists a robust internal democratic process that listens to individual voices."
Congress started declining in 2014, suffered major setback in 2019
His scathing piece serves as a reminder that Congress has lost touch with Indian politics and doesn't want to focus on a resurrection. The party suffered a humiliating defeat in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, after a similar loss in 2014. The then Congress President Rahul Gandhi resigned, and the party took weeks to announce his successor. Eventually, Sonia was named as interim president.
After being removed, Jha remembered Nehru's self-critical piece
Besides, removing Jha as the spokesperson with "immediate effect," AICC President Sonia Gandhi also approved the appointment of Abhishek Dutt and Sadhna Bharti as media panelists, a press note revealed. Reacting to this, Jha revealed that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru once wrote a critical piece against himself anonymously, where he spoke against autocracy. He wondered why Congress drifted far apart from these core values.
