Veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has said there is a “huge disconnect between the people and Congress leaders,” PTI reported. His remarks come after party’s debacle in the Bihar assembly elections, in which the party could win just 19 out of the 70 seats it contested in.

“There is a huge disconnect between the people and Congress leaders at the district, block and state levels. The party’s connect with the public should be a continuous process and not only during elections,” Azad told PTI on Sunday.

Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav-led ‘Mahagathbandhan, of which the Congress was the second major partner ended up with 110 seats while the NDA retained power in a close contest, bagging 125 seats in the 243-member assembly in the recent polls.

There is an urgent need to overhaul the party structure by conducting elections from block to district and state level, Azad said, adding that Congress leaders at all levels should shed five-star culture at least during elections.

Speaking for the first time after the party’s poor performance in the Bihar polls, Azad also said that leaders should tour a state along with state leaders.

“Each leader must have knowledge of each assembly constituency. Merely going from Delhi and staying in five-star hotels and returning after two to three days to Delhi is nothing but a waste of money,” the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha opined.

“Congress leaders should give up this five-star culture. At least during elections, they should avoid five-stars and stay in the field.”

Holding this as one of the main reasons for the party’s defeat in Bihar, the former Union minister called for elections for all positions in Congress state, district and block units.

Azad, who was among the 23 leaders to write to Congress president Sonia Gandhi in August demanding elections to key posts and comprehensive party restructuring, said they are raising issues as “reformists and not rebels”.

“We should have elected PCCs, DCCs and BCCs, and a programme for the party in this regard is a must,” he said.

Azad said that he along with other leaders in the Congress were raising these issues in the interest of the party.

“We are reformists, not rebels. We are not against the leadership. Rather, we are strengthening the hands of the leadership by proposing reforms,” he said.

Azad did not blame the top leadership of the party for the poll debacle and chose not to elaborate further on the Bihar loss.

There have been demands for restructuring from various quarters, including from former Union minister Kapil Sibal, in the wake of the party’s electoral decline.

Azad was among four letter-writers whom Sonia Gandhi included in three internal committees she constituted to articulate the party’s stand on economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security.