'Who was Mahatma Gandhi's father?': Arun Jaitley hits back at Congress for jibe over PM Modi's father

Union minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday came out all guns blazing at the Congress party over its leader’s comment on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s father, saying the opposition party “considers only a great surname as a political brand.”

Union minister was referring to Congress leader Vilasrao Muttemwar’s comment during an election meeting in poll-bound Rajasthan that while the world knows who Rahul Gandhi’s parents are, no one knew who PM Modi’s father is.

In a Facebook post, Jaitley said, “Millions of talented political workers who come from modest family backgrounds would fail by the Congress test of leadership.”

“The debate whether India should be a dynastic democracy has been ignited by a self-goal of the Congress Party. The Prime Minister’s mother’s age was made a subject matter of the electoral debate. His father’s anonymity was commented upon as



an inadequate credential of the Prime Minister,” he said.

“The argument given was that if you represent the legacy of a well-known family, it is a political point in your favour. Millions of talented political workers who come from modest family backgrounds would fail by the Congress test of leadership. Merit, talent, ability to inspire and lead would not be a virtue. The Congress considers only a great surname as a political brand,” he added.

"On hearing this rationale, I asked a few well informed friends of mine three questions: (1) What is the name of Gandhiji’s father? (2) What is the name of Sardar Patel’s father? (3) What is the name of Sardar Patel’s wife?" he asked.

The legislative assembly election in the state is scheduled to be held on 7 December. The election will be held in a single phase. In the last elections in 2013, the saffron party had won a majority.