Arun Shourie has been a vehement critic of the Narendra Modi government in the recent past. In what has been regarded as a great fall by many for the intellectual, he has been progressively becoming more and more illogical in his criticism of the Prime Minister of India. On Friday, at the Tata Kolkata Literary Meet, Arun Shourie remarked that there was a “climate of fear” and “helplessness” in the country.

The renowned journalist said, “The immediate circumstances are that today we don’t have a centralised Emergency but sort of a decentralised Emergency… There is climate of fear and a sense of helplessness which I did not see during the Emergency.” The former Union Minister also remarked that there has been a steady decline in the quality of politicians over the past three or four decades.

Taking a dig at the media, presumably at Arnab Goswami’s Republic and Times Now, Arun Shourie stated that the media has become “the part of establishment” and “instrument of rulers”.

“This has happened in many ways. One is the ingress of large corporate houses into the media. We would have thought that these people have deep pockets and therefore they can stand up to state better. Actually, they have varied business interest.. .and they do not stand up to the state”, he said.

Arun Shourie has been steadily becoming unhinged in his criticism of Narendra Modi. Many people believe his discontent towards the Modi government stems from him being snubbed for a position in Modi’s cabinet. In his effort to undermine the Modi government, the author found himself at the Press Club supporting the NDTV after CBI conducted raids at the homes and offices of Prannoy Roy and his wife.

Arun Shourie has willingly become a tool at the hands of people who wish to see the fall of Narendra Modi. He has repeatedly described the Prime Minister as “machiavellian” and a “narcissist” who wants to curb dissent. However, there has been a general feeling that through his antics in the recent past and by allying with people whose ideology he had opposed throughout his entire public life, Arun Shourie, in his attempt to hurt Modi, has ended up undermining his own legacy.