Congress has become captive of a dynasty, says Jaitley

As the Congress pushed Priyanka Gandhi to full time mainstream national politics, Union Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday revived the attack on 'dynasty politics' saying that inspirational societies abhor kingdoms.

He rejected Rahul Gandhi’s renewed attack on Rafale asking how many lies need to be peddled to sustain a sinking dynasty.

Holding that the Congress has sadly become a “captive of a dynasty” , Jaitlye said that many of its senior leaders lack the courage and moral authority to advise the "dynasts" to change course.

Alluding to Indira Gandhi days in the Congress, he said that this trend started in early 1970s, climaxed during the Emergency and has continued ever since. 

“The slave mentality of senior leaders convinces them that they must only sing the song scripted by the dynast. A contrarian opinion will cost them their political career. When the dynast speaks lies, they all join the chorus," he said and added that in mature democracies those who deliberately rely on falsehood are banished from public life.

As Modi government faces a barrage of attacks from the Congress on the Rafale issue, Jaitley alleged that a new falsehood is manufactured on a daily basis and wondered “how many lies are necessary to be peddled to save a sinking dynasty?”

On the day when Congress president Rahul Gandhi kept up the heat on the government over the Rafale issue,  Jaitley said, “the dynast knows that his 500 crore vs 1,600 crore kindergarten argument was a fictional story. No one would ever buy it because facts don’t support it.”

He also rued that “now without a shred of evidence, a fictional conflict of interest of the CAG is invented." 

“How many more lies will be peddled to sustain a sinking dynast?  India, certainly deserves better,” Jaitley said.