Arun Shourie, one of the most influential BJP ideologues during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, on Friday launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of poor handling of the Indian economy and turning a blind eye to the attacks on minorities and their institutions by the right-wing groups.

In an exclusive interview with Headlines Today's Karan Thapar on the first anniversary of the Modi government, Shourie said the 'trimurti' (trinity) of Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was running the party. "It has offended the opposition as well as frightened the members of the BJP," he said.

Shourie headed the Ministry of Disinvestment, Communication and Information Technology during the first NDA government and is considered one of the most prominent voices on India's economy. He, like most top BJP leaders from the Vajpayee era, failed to find any accommodation in the new regime.

Asked if the Modi government had done enough to put India on the path of 8 per cent growth which may soon rise to 10 per cent, Shourie said that it was "all hyperbole". "Such claims are meant to grab headlines but lack substance," he said.

Calling Modinomics "directionless", the 73-year-old author and politician said there was no big picture on the economy. "The government seems to be more concerned with managing headlines than putting policies in place. The situation is like the many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle lying in a mess with no big picture in mind about how to put them together."

Shourie even dismissed the list of achievements claimed by the Modi government, including reducing inflation, the fiscal deficit, increase in Foreign Direct Investment, de-regulating diesel or coal and spectrum auction. He said that much of it was the result of things that has nothing to do with the government, like fall in oil and general commodity prices.

Shourie also invoked the controversial monogrammed pin-striped suit that Modi wore during his interaction with US President Barack Obama earlier this year. "It was inexplicable, incomprehensible and a big critical mistake," Shourie said. "I fail to understand why he accepted and then wore that suit. You cannot take Gandhiji's name and wear such a thing," he said.

