NDA Government is Congress plus a cow : Arun Shourie

Once a strong supporter of Modi, Shourie made made this comment during a panel discussion following the launch of a book in Delhi authored by TN Ninan, the editor of the Business Standard.

People say, at least Dr Singh was wise," Shourie, once a heavyweight minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government, said.

When asked how he would distinguish the NDA from the UPA,  Shourie said the policies of both the Government are the same. He described the policies of PM Modi's government as "Congress scaled plus a cow", a sarcastic comment on the BJP's drive for cow protection after the mob-killing of a man in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri last month over rumours of cow slaughter and beef consumption.

"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 said.

Shourie 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."

He also 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,"  Shourie said.