Congress backs Shourie’s criticism of PM

“You centralise the functions but do not have either the domain expertise or the authority… then things get stuck”, Mr Shourie, a one-time admirer of Narendra Modi, said on Monday at an event moderated by NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain.

Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi also slammed Shourie saying the effect of the current company he was in, was showing through his words. The way to characterise policies of the government is: “Congress plus a cow.” said Shourie, much to the chargin of BJP and the amusement of social media. “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”.

Taking aim at policies Shourie, a former supporter of Modi, said that the PMO was never as weak as it is now, and the policies are same as the previous government. Shourie also claimed that the Prime Minister’s Office is at its weakest ever and that there has been a centralisation of functions as never before.

“Doctor Singh (Manmohan Singh) ko log yaad karne lag gaye hain (People have started recalling the days of Manmohan Singh)”.

Pointing out the absence of a change in tax policies, Shourie mentioned how the Banking reforms have been needlessly delayed for a long time. “So, therefore, this tortoise is a very generous metaphor. Ye to so hi jata hai (this tortoise goes to sleep)”, Shourie said, playing on the book’s title.

Dr Manmohan Singh who was Prime Minister for ten years till PM Modi and his BJP won the national election last year, was present at the launch of the book by veteran journalist TN Ninan.

The Congress Party on Tuesday welcomed former union minister Arun Shourie’s criticism of the NDA government, alleging that the present regime had done nothing but made false promises in its 16-month rule. After meeting Modi, they wonder what is happening and say “please do something”.

“Don’t get into fight with everyone. If you want to build Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, you require support of 5 Chief Ministers”, he said.