Arun Jaitley slams Congress leadership, says personal ambitions leading to degeneration of its ideology

Arun Jaitley launched a stringent attack on Congress and said that personal ambitions of the party’s leadership had led to degeneration of its ideology

Arun Jaitley was speaking at the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial at the India Ideas Conclave. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday launched a stringent attack on the Congress and said that personal ambitions of the party’s leadership had led to degeneration of its ideology, news agency IANS reported. Jaitley further said that Congress’ dynastic tendencies would have turned India into a kingdom rather than even a dynastic democracy had it not been for the BJP. “It was the personal grievances and ambitions which compelled the Congress party leadership to visit a congregation where anti-India slogans were raised,” he added. The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was speaking at the first Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial at the India Ideas Conclave. “Would Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi have ever gone to a congregation where ‘Bharat ke tukde honge’ slogan was raised,” he said. The Union minister also added that Congress, which was the dominant party of Indian politics for at least four decades post-Independence, developed dynastic tendencies after its second decade in power. He said the Indian parliamentary democracy needed an alternative ideological and political pole without which it was incomplete. “It was then that Atal Bihari Vajpayee put across his alternative view point whether it was Kashmir, Tibet or situation arising post the India-China war. The alternative voice was his,” Jaitley said. “Indian democracy, because of the two political parties as national parties, became a viable parliamentary democracy… The principal party, from the weakness it showed in the second decade, would have succeeded in converting India more into a kingdom rather than even a dynastic democracy,” Jaitley said. Earlier this week, Congress party had accused the Modi government of conniving with fraudsters who had escaped the country and claimed ‘conflict of interest’ to demand the sacking of Jaitley. The party said that Jaitley’s daughter and son-in-law, both lawyers, allegedly received a retainership of Rs 24 lakh from PNB scam prime accused Mehul Choksi. Congress leader Sachin Pilot earlier alleged that sinking economy, banking frauds and flying fraudsters form part of BJP’s-Jaitley’s ‘New India’ and demanded that the minister should resign on moral grounds. (With agency inputs)