File photo: Congress leader Anand Sharma.
The Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of centralising power and anti-democratic functioning, three days after 16 secretaries were removed without "consulting any minister".
Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told the media that the ministers got to know about the replacements from the media.
Sharma's remarks came on a day when an official notification said that Home Secretary L.C. Goyal sought voluntary retirement citing personal reasons and this was accepted by the prime minister.
"One after another, secretaries with fixed tenures are being removed. The home secretary was removed (though) his tenure was to finish on February 4, 2017," the Congress leader said.
The government appointed Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi as the new union home secretary on Monday.
Mr Sharma said: "This is not a democratic way of running the government. It is worrisome. The prime minister's mentality is not democratic at all."
The Congress leader said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) had only the home minister and the prime minister as members, and "he (home minister) is also informed only after the appointments have been approved by the prime minister.
"The complete concentration of decision making and undermining the authority of the cabinet is complete," Anand Sharma said.
"We can understand the agony of the cabinet ministers that they get to know of the appointments through the media.
"All three top secretaries are supposed to work without any pressure. There is complete uncertainty and fear in the minds of the officials," he said.
On Modi's decision not to re-promulgate the land acquisition ordinance, Sharma said the real face of the government had come out, and it was "anti-farmer and anti-poor".
On the reservation stir led by Hardik Patel in Gujarat, Sharma said: "It shows that the Gujarat model of development has exploded as it was not inclusive."
"Actually the Congress and its chief ministers made a U-turn on land bill. We tried our very best to involve these chief ministers but due to their rigid approach, we could not move forward," she said.
Sitharaman said that rather than allowing the parliamentary stalemate to carry on, the Centre followed an alternate route which will give flexibility to states to change land acquisition laws as per their requirement.
She said the decision to let the land acquisition ordinance lapse was not a setback for the government.
Questioning the Congress about the surplus land acquired in the name of SEZs, Sitharaman alleged that it was the Congress which had surrendered the rights of farmers and the BJP-led government restored it.