Arun Shourie claimed that industrialists are afraid of speaking against the government.
Former Union Minister Arun Shourie today launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, saying that its "lack of direction is making people miss Dr Manmohan Singh", referring to the former Prime Minister.
Mr Shourie, once a vocal supporter of Mr Modi, made these comments during a panel discussion following the launch of a book in Delhi authored by TN Ninan, the Chairman of the Business Standard. The discussion was moderated by NDTV's Managing Editor, Sreenivasan Jain.
"People say, at least Dr Singh was wise," said Mr Shourie. Dr Manmohan Singh was in the audience when these comments were made.
When asked how he would distinguish the NDA from the UPA, Mr 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 Mr 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," Mr Shourie said.
Also at the event, the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government Arvind Subramanian responded to Mr Shourie saying, "I can't second guess the constraints of those above my pay grade." He said "the tenor of the discussion misrepresents macroeconomic stability we have achieved."
Mr Shourie, however, was not to be constrained. He advised the Prime Minster to "stop picking a new fight every day". "To run the country," he said, "you need to take people along."