Congress must select leaders of calibre, says FM

Ahead of his US visit, Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the Congress party is unlikely to substantially expand itself unless it "selects its leaders based on calibre and potential", and goes back to its original centrist position.

Jaitley's remarks, in his keynote address – via video conference -- to the Berkeley India Conference, came less than a month after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi addressed the students there. In response to a question, Gandhi had said that dynastic politics was a "problem" in India, but maintained that a large number of people in his party did not have a dynastic background.

In his speech at Berkeley, Gandhi had also slammed the politics of polarisation.

The union finance minister is scheduled to arrive on nearly a week-long visit to the US tomorrow to interact with the US corporate world in New York and Boston and attend the annual meeting of International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington DC.

Responding to questions after delivering his key note address via video conference, Jaitley said Congress party which ruled the country for decades is out of sync with the ground realities and aspirations of India as it exists now.

The main challenge before the Congress party is two fold, he said.

Historically and conventionally, the Congress occupied the centre space in India, the BJP leader said.

"In the last few years, if I may say so, this process started in 2004 with the establishment of National Advisory Council and has continued, and today I find that the position that they take on most issues is not the conventional Congress party's centrist positions," he noted.