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Lok Sabha elections 2019: ‘Dynastic parties mean political slavery,’says Arun Jaitley
Dynastic politics are common among several regional and national parties, including the Congress. The party has been led by a member of the Gandhi family since independence.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the “present generation of dynast” has become a liability for the Congress party and expressed hope that aspirational India would reject caste-based and dynastic parties during general elections.
In a blog post titled, ‘Will 2019 Witness the Dynasty as a Liability on the Congress Party?’ Jaitley wrote, “If the Congress’s dynast has only an ability to deliver 44 seats or 60 seats in Parliament, what then is the incentive for conventional Congressmen to bear humiliation of subjecting themselves to a dynast? Ultimately, in dynastic parties one has to accept political slavery.” Dynastic politics are common among several regional and national parties, including the Congress. The party has been led by a member of the Gandhi family since independence.
“A relevant question with this changing socio-economic profile of India is — Are dynasties an asset for a party or are they a liability? Unquestionably, the present generation of dynast has become a liability rather than an asset for the Congress,” he said. Calling former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and current PM Narendra Modi the “tallest politicians of their generation”, he wrote that this could happen only in merit-based parties. “Is history going to witness something wholly unprecedented? Are we going to witness the rejection of caste based and dynastic parties? And will aspirational India make a harsh judgement on electing a merit based leadership? This may well be the case.”
