SINCE leading his party to a landslide victory in 2014 Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, has romped from strength to strength. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has captured one state capital after another, building daunting momentum ahead of the next national elections in 2019. So it is all the more remarkable that a recent squall of criticism has come not from India’s lingering left-liberal elite, nor from poor Indians hurt by erratic policies, but from within the BJP’s own Hindu-nationalist fold.

Two BJP grandees, Yashwant Sinha, a former finance minister, and Arun Shourie, a former World Bank economist and cabinet minister, have led the charge. In an op-ed article titled “I Need To Speak Up Now”, Mr Sinha lambasted Mr Modi’s government for botching the chance offered by low oil prices. GDP growth has fallen for five quarters in a row. In the three months to June it fell to 5.7% year on year, down from a heady 9% 18 months ago. Investment has also slowed (see chart). “The prime minister claims that he has seen poverty from close quarters,” Mr Sinha’s broadside concluded. “His finance minister is working overtime to make sure that all Indians also see it from equally close quarters.”