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Modi running a one-man ‘Presidential government’: Arun Shourie

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arun shourie

New Delhi: Former Union minister Arun Shourie on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of “narcissism” and of running a one-man “Presidential government” the direction of which was “dangerous” for India.

Shourie, a Cabinet minister in the Vajpayee government who has drifted away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in recent years, called the Modi government “a Presidential government without checks and balances” and said that the direction of the government under his supervision “is not good for India”.

In a 40-minute interview to Karan Thapar for India Today TV’s “To The Point” programme, he analysed the two years of Modi government and warned that over the next three years he expected “a more systematic attempt to curb civil liberties” and an increase in “decentralised intimidation” besides “choking” of “inconvenient voices”.

Bracketing Modi with leaders like Indira Gandhi and Jayalalithaa, Shourie accused the prime minister of indulging in narcissism, which he described as both “self-love to an exaggerated extent and insecurity”, and Machiavellism, which meant that he “exploits events to his benefit”, according to a press release issued by the channel.

The former minister, who has criticised Modi in the past also, said that the prime minister’s “attitude to people is to use and throw them”. He treats people “like paper napkins” and was “remorseless”, he alleged.

Shourie also referred to the raging controversy over the AugustaWestland helicopter deal and criticised the Modi government for not appealing against the acquittal by the Italian trial court of the company’s two former chiefs Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini.

According to him the reference by the Italian appeals court judge to the Indian government being unhelpful in the matter was specific to the Modi government.

Commenting on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s speech in Rajya Sabha on the helicopter deal, Shourie used a Hindi metaphor to say it was like digging a mountain to find not a mouse, but an “invisible chouha (mouse)”.

He compared Modi’s two years as prime minister “as a boxing match with everybody” and said that he had not “had the focus we expected of him”. This was a “great opportunity completely missed”, he added.

The press release quoted the former minister as saying that one of the problems was that Modi “is getting inputs from very few people and they are, additionally, the people he has chosen”.

Shourie saw “a clear line of logic” that linked ghar- wapsi, love-jihad, beef ban, the return of awards, the campaign against anti-nationalism, the focus on ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ and student protests. This was “deliberately orchestrated by the government”.

Shourie said the intention was to create “confrontation and polarisation” as he accused Modi of deliberately dividing India, calling it a policy of “divide and rule”.

While accepting that under Modi corruption at the Centre had diminished or disappeared, he said that nothing was deliberately done in the states, citing Vyapam scandal in Madhya Pradesh, Lalit Modi episode and Saradha scam.

The former minister described as “unconstitutional” the imposition of President’s rule in two Congress-ruled states of Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The “deliberate” BJP policy of attracting and inviting defectors would “undermine” the party, he said.

Shourie was sharply critical of Modi’s handling of relations with Pakistan, saying, “we have made fools of ourselves in the eyes of Pakistan”.

Shourie said there was no consistency or logic to Modi’s Pakistan policy which had “confused” India. He was sharply critical of “U-turns” in handling Pakistan.

Attacking the prime minister’s policy towards China also, he said that it was comparable to Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy towards the big neighbour.

Both believed that “they could charm the dragon” and both turned out to be wrong, he said, adding that Modi’s policy could encourage China to claim that Kashmir is not a bilateral but a trilateral matter with Beijing being the third party because of its presence in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Speaking about the economy, the former World Bank economist said he believed that the claim of 7.6 per cent GDP growth was similar to the “exaggerated claims” of investments made during the Gujarat investment summits.

According to him the government had failed to be radical in its policies and had failed to handle tax issues, including retrospect taxation and the banking crisis.

Shourie accused the government of “gross negligence” and of being “irresponsible” in handling the banking crisis.

(PTI)

BJP govt is Congress plus a cow, never seen a weaker PMO: Arun Shourie

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arun shourie

New Delhi: In a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government, BJP leader Arun Shourie on Monday contended that it believes that managing economy means “managing the headlines” and that people had started recalling the days of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“Doctor Singh (Manmohan Singh) ko log yaad karne lag gaye hain (People have started recalling the days of Manmohan Singh). The way to characterise policies of the government is — Congress plus a cow. Policies are the same,” Mr. Shourie said at book launch function.

The function to launch Turn of The Tortoise, a book written by former Business Standard Editor-in-Chief T. N. Ninan, was attended by Manmohan Singh, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subranamian and former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

Pointing out differences between the present and the previous governments, Mr. Shourie said: “There is clearer belief (in the present dispensation) that managing economy means managing the headlines and this is not really going to work.”

Mr. Shourie, who was a Minister in the Vajpayee government, said: “I feel there was never a weaker a PMO as now… There has never been as great a centralisation of functions, not power, of functions in PMO as now. …If fellows don’t have domain expertise, that Brajesh Mishra had, L.K. Jha had, all these principal secretaries had, then things get stuck.”

Mr. Shourie said, “If you see impediments that were there in tax administration, virtually no change… Banking reform has been delayed by year and a half for no reason. So therefore this tortoise is a very generous metaphor. Ye to so hi jata hai (this tortoise goes to sleep).”

‘Industrialists afraid’

He claimed that industrialists are afraid of speaking against the government. “The industrialists who meet the Prime Minister don’t speak the whole truth. After meeting PM, they say ‘please do something’ And in front of the media they give the government 9 out of 10.”

(Agencies)

Only grabbing headlines: Arun Shourie attacks Modi government

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Asked if the Modi government had done enough to put India on growth path, Mr. Shourie said that it was “all hyperbole.”

arun-shourie

Arun Shourie, a Minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet, hit out at the Narendra Modi government on Friday, saying its economic policy was “directionless” while the social climate was causing “great anxiety” among the minorities.

Mr. Shourie said the one-year rule of Modi was “good in parts”, his transformation as Prime Minister was good in foreign policy, but the promised turnaround in the economy had not happened.

“The government seems to be more concerned with managing headlines than putting policies in place. The situation is like the many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle lying in a mess with no big picture in mind about how to put them together,” he told a private news channel. Mr. Shourie, who is not active in BJP these days, said despite promises, the fears of foreign investors on retrospective taxes and incentives for manufacturing have not materialised on the ground. “They (investors) require stability and predictability,” he said, adding that the concern expressed by banker Deepak Parekh on the situation on the ground should be seen as a “wake-up call“.

Asked if the Modi government had done enough to put India on growth path, Mr. Shourie said that it was “all hyperbole.”

“Such claims are meant to grab headlines but lack substance,” he said. “The government is talking big on economic matters, but nothing is happening on the ground. Delivery is missing,” he added.

In an apparent reference to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, he said the government lacked a stable approach in dealing with investors and that “lawyerly arguments” would not convince them. He was also critical of handling of the tax issues which was keeping foreign investors away. “First it alienated them but now it has made them laugh. You come out as bullies.”

(PTI)

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