Congress sides with Shourie, calls BJP Govt. 'unilateral, autocratic'

The Congress Party on Saturday sided with former NDA minister Arun Shourie over his remarks about the functioning of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and said the present government was furthering 'unilateralism, autocracy and subjugation of institutional mechanism of governance at the hands of a chosen few'.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala suggested an alternative career of an 'event manager' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Arun Shourieji is a BJP insider... He has confirmed, after Lal Krishna Advani... that the Modi government is about unilateralism, autocracy and subjugation of institutional mechanism of governance at the hands of a chosen few. This government is run by those who believe in autocracy," Surjewala said.

"The Prime Minister can be a great event manager and Lal Krishna Advaniji has said that the Prime Minister can also be a headline manager, now that Arun Shorie notifies him as such," he added.

Surjewala alleged that the ruling BJP's 'ache din' have got 'hawa hawai'.

"To run this country takes cohesive leadership, creation of a societal atmosphere which carries the different viewpoints along and also requires a good governance module where dissent is taken into account and unilateralism is kept at bay. But, Modiji's 'ache din' have got 'hawa hawaai' and this is being proved by the statements of BJP leaders in less than one year of Modi rule," he said.

On Friday, Shourie criticized Prime Minister Modi for his poor handling of the economy, saying the government was talking big on economic matters but nothing was happening on the ground.

He also accused him of ignoring the attacks on the minorities and their institutions by the right-wing groups.

Shourie also questioned the supremacy of the 'Trimurti' (trinity) of Prime Minister Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, saying it had "offended the opposition as well as frightened the members of the party (BJP)".