Congress must select leaders on calibre, says Arun Jaitley

Washington/New Delhi: In yet another rap on the Congress party's dynastic leadership, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the party is not likely to expand itself unless it selects its leaders based on "calibre and potential".

The Finance Minister's observation came while responding to questions after delivering his keynote address via video conference to Berkeley India Conference.

He said Congress party is out of sync with the ground realities and aspirations of India.

Just weeks back Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had addressed the students at the University of California in Berkeley where fielding a question over dynasty in the Congress, he had said that not only Congress but most political parties are dynastic.

Responding to a question, Jaitley said: "The (Congress) party's whole process of leadership creation within the party...does not just get on with the rest of aspirational India."

"So, unless it goes back to being a more structured party which selects its leaders based on calibre and potential...I do not think it will be able to substantially expand its position," he added.

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Jaitley is set to leave on an official visit to the US early on Monday to participate in the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Responding to Jaitley's jibe that Congress had lost contact with ground realities, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that Jaitley first need to establish contact with his own Prime Minister.

"He reportedly came to know of demonetisation through TV...The fact is that this government is being run by only two people-- Narendra Modi and Amit Shah," Sibal said.

With IANS inputs