‘Cong decline due to leadership problem’

Making a veiled attack on Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the party’s decline is due to problems of its leadership and compared it with an “obsolete car” manufacturer, who could survive in the past due to monopoly but not now.

“If you look state after state, the Congress party is losing a lot of its leaders. I see two particular reasons for it. A party, which has dominated India’s politics for six decades and has been in power for almost 50 years or so, has suddenly started taking positions, which mainstream parties should not take. Their success is now measured by how much they can obstruct. Secondly, the pitfalls of the leadership, which is not merit-based is clearly being reflected.... And one of the principal grievances, a lot of its tall leaders have had, was the inability to communicate with the central decision-makers or decision-maker,” Jaitley said.

Noting that there are still many political parties, which depend on the “crowd around a family”, the Finance Minister said the strength of these parties will depend on the capacity of that current generation to hold it together. “And I think the Congress is losing out on that,” he said.

Listing the problems being faced by Congress in states such as Kerala, Assam, Arunchal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, he said the “shrinking” of Congress base was also happening in Punjab where elections are due next year. 

Noting that India’s character is changing to be more youthful, certainly post independence generation, he said that is why state after state, one will now find merit- based leadership.