Defeat for ‘dynastic politics’, says Jaitley

NEW DELHI - The Bihar electoral verdict is a victory for “meritorious leadership over dynastic politics”, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley said Wednesday.

Referring clearly to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son and general secretary Rahul Gandhi who campaigned extensively in the state, he said the Bihar result would mark a new beginning in Indian politics.

“Bihar’s voters have shown that a family or glamour cannot match proven track record (in governance),” he told reporters here.

“We congratulate the people of Bihar for giving a positive vote” in favour of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and its ally, the BJP.

“When we won in 2005, people said it was a negative vote, it was a vote against Lalu Prasad and not for us. This time, the vote is clearly for us… Our opponents could not understand what the people wanted.”