Finance Minister responds to comments on parentage

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday criticised the Congress for considering “surname as a political brand” and said the BJP was happy to accept the challenge of a contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a son of lesser known parents, and someone known for just the surname.

Mr. Jaitley, in a Facebook post titled ‘What was the name of Sardar Patel’s father’ accused the Congress of squeezing out merit in favour of dynasty. His post was a response to remarks by Congress leaders recently on Mr. Modi’s family.

“If the Congress party wants the 2019 election to be between Prime Minister Modi, who is the son of lesser-known parents and someone who is known only for his parentage rather than capacity, merit and competence, the BJP would gladly accept the challenge. Let this be the agenda for 2019,” he wrote.