The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha also said the country will have to come out of its "feudal mindset" and evolve a system where decisions will be taken on basis of merit.
"There is a sudden decline in the nature and character of the political parties in the last two decades and it has direct relationship to the issue of accountability," he said, addressing a gathering here.
Pointing out at the lack of structured political parties, Jaitley said, "What has happened in India in last two decades is that there are very few structured parties and I blame all of us together. The Left parties are structured parties and my party to a large extent is a structured party."
"We now have a complete replacement of meritocracy in the country. The Indian mindset has to change and get out of this feudal psyche. The real strength of Indian democracy will emerge when the merit will replace surnames," he said while given importance to merit.
Jaitley gave the example of states like Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu where principal political parties are run by families.
"The principal party in India is a crowd around a family. You have political parties led by a charismatic leader who have community support but all of their accounts remain within," he said apparently referring to Congress.
The BJP leader, while referring to other political parties, said, "They are controlled by families, a person. The person normally is charismatic. He has the support of a caste, group or a community behind him. He eliminates all the opposition within the party and succession is on the basis of what happens within the family." (More)