BJP hits back at Arun Shourie for saying PMO is weakest now, claims he is angry for not being included in government

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday hit back at senior party leader Arun Shourie after he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying people like him are influenced by losers and that is why they make such statements.

BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "These people are influenced by losers and that is why they make such statements. There is no vacancy in PMO as of now. The PMO is working well we don't need any certificate from defeated people."

Hitting back at the senior party leader, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, "This government is not weak, it is a strong government. The PM is working for the country. Opponents are not able to digest the popularity of the PM. They can't appreciate the work done by Narendra Modi. They are misleading or being mislead."

In a sharp attack on the Modi government, Shourie on Monday contended that it believes that managing economy means "managing the headlines" and that people had started recalling the days of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Doctor Singh (Manmohan Singh) ko log yaad karne lag gaye hain (People have started recalling the days of Manmohan Singh). The way to charaterise policies of the government is -- Congress plus a cow. Policies are the same," Shourie said.

Targeting Modi, the minister in the Vajpayee government said, "I feel there was never a weaker a PMO as now". He said "there has never been as great a centralisation of functions, not power, of functions in PMO as now. ...If fellows don't dont have domain expertise, that Brajesh Mishra had, LK Jha had, all these principal secretaries had, then things get stuck."

Appreciating Shourie's statement, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said, "Arun Shourie has said right thing about the present government. He has mentioned the correct thing when he said people are missing Manmohan Singh."

Shourie has been at loggerheads with the Modi government allegedly because he was not included in any of the ministries. In the past also, Shourie had criticised Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for their economic policies.