The Congress on Tuesday described Arun Shourie’s scathing criticism of the Narendra Modi government as the “most damning indictment of the current dispensation.” Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari accused the BJP government of “unleashing the anarchy”.
Mr. Shourie was an influential BJP leader during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in which he served as a Minister. A strong supporter of Mr. Narendra Modi during the Lok Sabha election campaign last year, Mr. Shourie hit out at the BJP-led government saying that it managed the country’s economy by “managing the headlines”. He said people had started recalling the days of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whom the BJP criticised relentlessly before coming to power.
Other Congress leaders said Mr. Shourie was “bang on” target. The BJP dismissed the charge, and distanced itself from his remarks, saying that Mr. Shourie was no longer a member of the party.
Venkaiah rejects chargeUnion Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu also rejected Mr. Shourie’s remarks, saying: “His views are shared by neither the party nor the public.”
Mr. Naidu said there had been “no scam, no scandal and not even one mistake” under the government.
“We are a democracy, he (Mr. Shourie) has his opinion, but the country’s opinion is different,” Mr. Naidu said, .
