And, Arun Shourie has at last put on his critical thinking cap as a journalist and economist. Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, former Union Minister Arun Shourie said its “lack of direction is making people miss Dr Manmohan Singh”.
Shourie, once a vocal supporter of Modi, made these comments during a panel discussion following the launch of a book in Delhi authored by TN Ninan, the editor of the Business Standard.
“People say, at least Dr Singh was wise,” said Shourie. Dr Manmohan Singh was in the audience when these comments were made.
It goes without saying that Shourie does not have a servile mind which would make calculations of benefits or their lack from the Government.
When asked how he would distinguish the NDA from the UPA, Shourie described the policies of PM Modi’s government as “Congress scaled plus a cow”, an acerbic comment on the BJP’s repeated invoking of cow protection after the mob-killing of a man in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri last month over rumours that he had eaten beef.
“The policies (between the NDA and UPA) are the same,” said Shourie. “The difference really is that there is a firmer, clearer belief that managing the economy means managing the headlines of the economy, and this is not really going to work.”
He assessed the current Prime Minister’s Office as “the weakest” so far and said there was no one with “domain expertise to manage the PMO.”
Arun Shourie claimed that industrialists are afraid of speaking against the government. “The industrialists who meet the Prime Minister don’t speak whole truth. After meeting PM, they wonder what is happening and say ‘please do something’. And in front of media they give the government 9 out of 10,” Shourie said.
Shourie advised the Prime Minster to “stop picking a new fight every day”. “To run the country,” he said, “you need to take people along.”
