New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) As the Congress marked its 140th Foundation Day on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a sharp attack on the grand old party, accusing it of lacking internal democracy and claiming that the very "building of the party is in a dilapidated state". 

During the Foundation Day flag-hoisting ceremony at Indira Bhawan, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that the Congress represents an ideology and that ideologies never die. He said India emerged as the world's largest democracy due to the contributions of great leaders from the Congress.

Reacting to the celebrations, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters, "The Congress is celebrating its 140th Foundation Day. It is indeed ironic that a party whose very foundation is shaken and whose building is in a dilapidated state is celebrating its Foundation Day."

Targeting Kharge over his remarks at the ceremony, Bhatia said, "Today, the remote-control president of the Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge, was trying to highlight what the Congress has given to the country. I must tell the remote-control president, Mallikarjun Kharge, that the legacy of the Congress is Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Partition is the legacy of the Congress Party and its incompetence. The 1984 riots, trying to justify the lives lost during that, giving our land to China, Emergency, all these are part of the legacy of Congress."

The BJP spokesperson also referred to recent remarks by senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Shashi Tharoor, which he said did not align with the party's official line. He accused what he described as the "fake Gandhis" of running the party in a "dictatorial style".

"Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is completely helpless. All he does is serve the fake Gandhi parivar, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, without even caring about the country or its people. Just yesterday, senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Shashi Tharoor also spoke about the lack of internal democracy in the Congress Party. Mallikarjun Kharge is also aware of that, but he is so helpless. He can't even speak a word about the dictatorial style of the fake Gandhis within the Congress party," Bhatia said.

He went on to describe the Congress as the "weakest link of a powerful democracy" and said the party needs serious introspection.

"They should be connected to the masses in India and take forward the vision of Viksit Bharat that PM Narendra Modi has envisioned and is also implementing on the ground. Therefore, there is no foundation left for a foundationless Congress party, which is celebrating its Foundation Day," Bhatia added.