Modi Running A One-Man 'Presidential Government': Arun Shourie
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 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".
Shourie accused the
prime minister of 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".
