Former Indian Express editor Arun Shourie, who was a cabinet minister under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, and remains a member of the Bharatiya Janta Party has long established his credentials as a frenemy of the Narendra Modi government.

So it was no surprise really when news came in on Monday evening that Shourie had launched a scathing attack at the  central government by contending 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)," he was quoted as saying in news reports. "The way to characterise policies of the government is – Congress plus a cow. Policies are the same.”

These comments came during his presence at a function to launch Turn of The Tortoise, a book written by former Business Standard Editor-in-Chief TN Ninan, which was attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subranamian and former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

“There is clearer belief (in the present dispensation) that managing economy means managing the headlines and this is not really going to work,” he said, adding that he had never seen a weaker PMO. “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.”

Emphasising on decentralising functions and maintaining cordial relations with all, Shourie went on to advise the government that it should stop doing “stupid things”.

“If fellows don’t dont have domain expertise, that Brajesh Mishra had, LK Jha had, all these principal secretaries had, then things get stuck,” he said. “Don’t get into fight with everyone. If you want to build Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, you require support of five Chief Ministers.”

While Shourie has expressed similar views before, which in fact is what he was asked to elaborate on, his comments are being seen as a sign of the discontent brewing among even the party’s vocal supporters, including columnists such as Tavleen Singh who recently pulled up the government for not having "poisoned the air with hatred and violence" and said it needed "to be put back into the sealed box in which it belongs."

Social media, meanwhile, seemed divided on whether Shourie’s criticism should be taken at face value.



The reactions were predictable.

But there were also those who wanted to treat the statements on merit.

If there were new bhakts of Shourie, there were also those who were disillusioned.

And, of course, there was the charge of sour grapes, of disgruntled malcontents sniping only because they weren't given cabinet positions. For a long time there has been a buzz that Shourie was still smarting from not being given any responsibility in the Modi government.

Which is what the BJP wanted to emphasise.


And as Modi supporters jumped in to defend their leader and Congress saw a point of agreement with Shourie, it was pretty much a free for all.