Tharoor at the Jaipur Literature Festival. ( Source: Express Photo by Oinam Anand) Tharoor at the Jaipur Literature Festival. ( Source: Express Photo by Oinam Anand)

Urging the Prime Minister to “show political courage by jettisoning” the RSS which was “opposed to and propounding against (Narendra) Modi’s economic agenda”, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also took a swipe Friday at the second Congress-led government under Manmohan Singh saying “the UPA-I was a game-changer government while the UPA-II was a name-changer government”. 

Speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival on his new book India Shastras which has essays on the Modi government, Tharoor said the development dream Modi sold the country to win a “phenomenal mandate” was in danger because of the “free rein” given to the RSS. 

“The Modi government must show political courage by jettisoning the very forces which brought him to power, namely the RSS, or else the RSS will become the reason for Modi’s undoing.  The RSS is an illiberal and retrograde organisation which was opposed to and propounding against Modi’s economic agenda.  They propound protectionism and self-reliance against free trade.  They say India’s identity must be a purely Hindu one but they just do not understand that news of church burnings and communal disharmony are keeping away foreign investors, some of who personally wrote to me.  The RSS have a say on everything — economics, polity, education, history and gender relations — which is dangerous.” 

“Prime Minister Modi’s election agenda and speeches could well be scripted by a liberal but for the gap in speech and implementation.  Take for instance, how a man could promise a government of minimum government and maximum governance when he is in fact leading a most centralized, top-down, personality-driven one since the times of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency.  How much can we celebrate the Modification of India?” 

“Implementation of good ideas has long been a weakness of India.  If Modi can change this narrative, he would have made his place in history.  However, we in the Opposition have not witnessed any change on the ground, though I admit that six months is not long enough for judging work,” Tharoor said. 

He linked what he called economic under-performance of the government to the danger of aggravating unemployment in the country.  He said education was not only a matter of economic challenge but a national security issue. 

He said India had the largest number of under-25 residents in the world, with over 50 per cent of its population under 25-years of age.  A majority of this workforce, he said, was under-educated or uneducated and, therefore, unemployable. “ Most of these youth in 165 of 625 districts of the country have picked up arms for a 1000 rupees and become Maoists and Naxals in these districts.” 

Tharoor also had a go at the UPA-II leadership. “ While there had been a wave of economic change in the UPA-I under Manmohan Singh and M S Ahluwalia, the UPA-II failed to continue with the same, partly due to political reasons and partly due to those you can guess.  The UPA-I was a game-changer government while the UPA-II was a name-changer government,” he said. 

He praised Modi for launching the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and said he had sent a proposal to the Prime Minister about cleaning canals in his constituency Thiruvananthapuram.  Last year, Tharoor drew flak from his own partymen for praising the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. 

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