""Nothing surprises me," Sanjay Jha had said yesterday after his suspension. (File)
Highlights
- Sanjay Jha tweeted today his "loyalty is to the Congress ideology"
- "The battle has just begun," he wrote
- Last month, Mr Jha was also removed as party's spokesperson
Hours after Sanjay Jha was suspended from the Congress for "anti-party activities and breach of discipline", he tweeted this morning that his "loyalty is to the Congress ideology". Mr Jha was suspended from the party last night, minutes after he appeared on NDTV's "Left, Right and Centre".
Today, he stressed in a tweet that he remains a "a Gandhi-Nehruvian idealist". "My loyalty is to the Congress ideology. My fidelity is not to any individual or family. I remain a Gandhi-Nehruvian idealist (a vanishing breed within Congress). I will continue to raise issues that are fundamental to the resurgence of my party. The battle has just begun," Mr Jha tweeted.
His new Twitter bio reads: "Congressi by DNA. Sacked & Suspended. My big blunder: Fought for internal democracy, suggested changes to revive Congress, challenged Rip Van Winkle leadership. (sic)"
Late Tuesday, a notice issued by the Maharashtra Congress and signed by Balasaheb Thorat, chief of the party's state unit, said that "Sanjay Jha has been suspended from the Congress Party with immediate effect for anti-party activities and breach of discipline."
"Nothing surprises me. What are the anti-party activities I indulged in? The least the Congress could have done was to approach me," Mr Jha told NDTV in his immediate reaction to the suspension.
"We are showing an extremely intolerant culture," he said, adding, "I've always maintained that until we get our internal democracy right we will struggle to become a serious political contestant to the BJP".
On Tuesday, the entrepreneur-turned-politician had criticised the party in a series of tweets over the crisis in Rajasthan where Sachin Pilot's open revolt has pushed the Ashok Gehlot government to the brink.
The 42-year-old's rebellion comes months after seasoned politician Jyotirdatiya Scindia's switch to the BJP led to the fall of the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh.
"First, Jyotiraditya Scindia. Now, Sachin Pilot. Who next? Watch this space!," Sanjay Jha wrote in a post on Tuesday.
Another post read: "For five years Sachin Pilot gave his blood, tears, toil and sweat for the Congress party between 2013-18. The Congress came back from a wretched 21 seats to 100. We just gave him a performance bonus. We are so meritocratic. We are so transparent."
The Congress on Tuesday had removed Mr Pilot as the deputy chief minister of Rajasthan and the party's state unit chief. Today, a notice sent to him gave him till Friday to explain why he should not be disqualified as the member of the legislative assembly.
Last month, Mr Jha was also removed as party spokesperson after a critical takedown of his party in an article. Shortly after the article was published, he tweeted the Congress had "drifted far" from its democratic, tolerant and liberal values.
"I remain a committed fearless ideological soldier of INC," he had tweeted.