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Sanjay Jha, in his letter, directly questioned Congress’ internal leadership, particularly its handling of Tharoor.
Congress leaders Sanjay Jha, Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor.
Amid the rumours about a potential “rift” between the Congress leadership and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha on Monday wrote an open letter to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi urging him to resolve internal issues and not remain in denial.
“I am writing to you publicly here because no one within the Congress is probably going to tell you this. So as usual, let me bell the cat,” Jha said in a long post on X.
“Leadership (corporate or political or any other) is about having difficult conversations. It is about trouble-shooting. It is not about living in denial; problems have to be addressed, they cannot be wished away,” Jha said.
The former party spokesperson further questioned Congress’ internal leadership, particularly its handling of Tharoor. “You and I both know that Shashi is an outstanding parliamentarian. He is probably among the only few in the country to whom the cliché, ‘He needs no introduction’ truly applies,” he wrote.
Dear @rahulgandhiI am writing to you publicly here because no one within the Congress is probably going to tell you this. So as usual, let me bell the cat.
Leadership ( corporate or political or any other) is about having difficult conversations. It is about trouble-shooting.…
— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) February 24, 2025
“It is therefore disappointing that once again a great asset of the party is being forced to talk to the media to get his message through to you or the Congress leadership,” he added.
He further said that the Congress must be focused on taking on the BJP, “but a prerequisite for that is to first get the house in order.”
“This cannot become an ongoing unresolved challenge for years as it paralyses the energy and drive of the Congress workers and supporters. A challenger party has to be swift, desperate, risk-taking, hungry and on a constant prowl. It cannot be business as usual, for sure,” Jha said.
Jha concluded, “We need to hit the nail on the head going forward, but right now, we seem to be hitting our head on the nail.”
Tharoor recently posted a cryptic quote from English poet Thomas Gray—”Where ignorance is bliss, ‘tis folly to be wise”—fueling speculation about tensions between him and the party leadership.
Tharoor recently said that he is available for the party, however, also warned that he had “options” if the party did not require his services. However, Tharoor dismissed talks of switching parties, stating that he did not believe in jumping ships even if he had differences in opinions in the party.
The Congress leader’s remarks came after he recently praised the Kerala government’s policies and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington DC. His gestures did not go down well with the grand old party.
Reacting to the controversy, Tharoor said that he had “narrow political thoughts” and did not think of himself as a politician. He said that Congress needs to expand its base in Kerala to gain new voters and flagged that there is an absence of a leader in the state unit of the party.
A four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Tharoor cautioned that if the Congress failed to broaden its appeal, it risked remaining in the opposition for a third consecutive term in Kerala, where Assembly elections are set to take place next year.
