Sanjay Jha is a politician who spent a long time as a spokesperson of the Congress and as president of the All India Professionals Congress, Maharashtra, until he was expelled from the grand old party last year.

Jha, who describes himself as a “corporate guy”, is now the executive director at Dale Carnegie Training. In this conversation with Shardool Katyayan at NL Recess, he discusses his newly released book, The Great Unraveling: India After 2014.

Jha takes us through the tenure of UPA II and its fall in the general election of 2014. In this context, Jha argues that the “Congress has indeed shifted from its core values”. He adds, “If the BJP is in power and running amok with democracy, the Congress is equally culpable for allowing BJP that free hand.”

Asked about the party’s leadership, Jha says a lot of people will come back to the Congress if they see a non-Gandhi leadership.

Ruing that India’s political climate is extremely polarised now, he says, “Nobody in India is bothered about the fact that a majority of our lives are spent in the grey area.”

The conversation also touches on such subjects as the Gamestop stock drama, Jha’s fascination with cricket, and more.

Watch.

Text by Salil Ahuja.