Arun Jaitley 'ashamed' of Rahul Gandhi's speech at Berkeley

Rahul Gandhi had defended dynasty politics, saying that was how the entire country was running.

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday took a dig at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi over his comments on dynasty politics in India.

Launching a scathing attack on the Gandhi scion, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, "Some parties may think that being centered around dynasty is an asset, but in the long run it becomes a burden."

Mincing no words, Jaitley came down heavily on Rahul Gandhi saying, he was feeling ashamed when someone, while visiting the US, said dynasties are commonplace in India, from politics to business.

Jaitley's comments came a week after Rahul, while addressing students at the University of California in Berkeley had defended dynasty politics, saying that was how India was running, and also said he was "absolutely ready" to be the party's prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 General Elections.

Ever since, Rahul made the remarks, the BJP and the Congress are locked in a vitriolic spat. with The BJP has called him a "failed dynast and politician", and questioned the propriety of his criticism of the Narendra Modi government on foreign soil.

Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday said that dynasty and democracy cannot go together as democracy by definition is the will of the people.

"I used to say it earlier, but now I hesitate to say it because I am out of politics. Dynasty in democracy is nasty but it is tasty to some people. That is a weakness of our system," he said.

Naidu's remarks, though he did not name anyone, came in the context of Congress scion's statements at the University of California at Berkeley.