In a sharp rebuke to the Narendra Modi government, right-wing ideologue Arun Shourie on Friday said that the administration’s economic policy is directionless, that it had failed to adequately address the fears of India’s minority communities and that monogrammed suit that the prime minister wore during US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country in January was a critical mistake.

In a wide-ranging interview to Karan Thapar on the Headlines Today channel to review Modi's first year in office, Shourie said that the government lacks clear thinking. It has good ideas but is poor in implementation, said Shourie, who served as Minister of Disinvestment, Communication and Information Technology in the Atal Bihari Vajpyee government. He said that there is a big gap between perception and promise, and projection and performance.

Shourie remarks were, unsurprisingly, welcomed by Modi's critics.

 

But even some Bharatiya Janata Party supporters approved of his observations.


 

As was to be expected, Modi's supporters rushed to his defence.



 



Of course, it provided fodder for many wisecracks.