Narendra Modi more of an Events Manager than a PM: Mani Shankar Aiyar

Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar sees Narendra Modi more as an EM, or events manager, than a PM and says the best thing about the one year of his government is that "there are only four years left" and the countdown to the end of his 'achhe din' has begun. "Since the NDA government assumed power, there has been dissatisfaction among people, particularly farmers," he says.

He claims that every indicator of economic growth is either staggering or falling. "The only aspect of the Indian economy that has risen is the Sensex. Every indicator is either staggering or falling except where international conditions have been exceptionally helpful like declining trend in oil prices and revival in the global economy," Aiyar, whose stint in the Rajya Sabha will end next year, said. 

Aiyar's new book, 'Achhe Din? Ha! Ha!!', a collection of his articles on various topics, including the government's performance and the Congress, will be released this week by Palimpsest.  In the foreword, he writes, "I believe his (Modi's) penchant for self-praise and self-publicity will redound on him. "People will start asking whether this is a PM or an EM - an events manager. "As action trails far behind rhetoric, his credibility has already started its downward spiral.

"The momentum will get accelerated as the gap widens between his flair for clever lines and his inability to match words with delivery." Aiyar, however, accepts that he "went hopelessly wrong in thinking he (Modi) could not possibly win. "He did get the mandate to run the country. "But as I have watched him from the sidelines, I persist with the view that he has not risen to the occasion and that the country would be well-advised to turn him down at the next opportunity."

He also sees the prospects of a newly-minted Congress only improving. "We are now consolidating ourselves before we start preparing for the 2019 elections. The best thing about the Modi government is that there are only four years left. We will start positioning ourselves in 2017 to take on Modi," the former Union panchayati raj minister says.