Modi government economic policy is directionless: Arun Shourie

In an interview to Headlines Today channel, Shourie said: "Very high marks on foreign policy, focus, energy; but on economy directionless and great disappointment."

On taking the economy to growth path Shourie said that it was "all hyperbole". "Such claims are meant to grab headlines but lack substance," he  told Karan Thapar on his show, To The Point, on Headlines Today.

"When someone like Deepak Parekh is saying that nothing has changed, this should be a wake-up call," he said, adding that the govt is talking big on economic matters but nothing is happening on ground. "Delivery is missing," he said.

Shourie said on social relations too, the Modi government has created great anxiety.  

Shourie said the government is being run by three people- Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah but they are not getting feedback from elsewhere.

“I think, today the government of India and the party consists of three persons — Modi, Jaitley and Amit Shah… They work as a team. The three persons are not getting feedback from elsewhere. Secondly, they’ve frightened not just the allies but their own group — the extended party, etc,” Shourie said.

Shourie minced no words in tearing into the Modi government's decisions and especially attacked Shah.

“Third problem is, as in all political parties, if I take a wrong decision and the consequences are terrible — let’s just say I get Kiran Bedi in… in Delhi, we lose. It’s regarded at that time as a master stroke of the master strategist and then you are slapped by the Delhi people — three seats out of 70. Who’s to now decide that some wrong decision was taken? The same three. So no corrective action takes place,” said Shourie.

Shourie said lapses of judgments can be very critical mistakes. "I cannot understand which person would have gifted him that suit[ the controversy over the Rs 10 lakh suit that Modi wore]. I can never understand how he chose to accept that gift or wear it. The point is, you cannot take Gandhiji’s name and wear such a thing. ....and it was very good that he got rid of it very quickly.”

Shourie also praised Modi.

“I like him very much. I think he is the man today… the only person who can give us that leadership, but this kind of thing is incomprehensible,” he said.

Shourie while praising Modi for his foreign policy moves and improving relations with countries, he criticised the PM's Pakistan policy. "Like all previous prime ministers Modi was prone to the belief he could change the relationship. The PM must free himself of the illusion of out of box thinking. Handling relations with Pakistan requires steadier thinking," he added.

He also slammed the government on love jihad and other such issues.