The Case Against Arun Shourie for Prime Minister
Monday, 19. January 2009 - 1:18 PM
Gaurav, my fellow Communal blogger has been bitten so hard by the Arun Shourie bug that he is running a campaign for the man to become India’s next Prime Minister. With nothing but heavy applause for his intent, I have to differ.
Gaurav’s contentions rests purely on Arun Shourie’s intellectual, ethical, and patriotic accompllishments. While I agree with Gaurav on all these counts, I still think Shourie as India’s next PM will be counterproductive. I present only one reason to support my position: Arun Shourie is not a mass leader. To which Gaurav says:
I do agree that Arun Shourie is not a mass leader unlike Shri Advani. However even though Shri Advani is more familiar to public, he is by no stretch Atal Bihari Vajpaye, meaning he doesn’t posses significant pan Indian appeal. Therefore he is unlikely to affect Lok Sabha elections in a significant way, which as in 2004 will mostly aggregate of state and even local results.
A very basic reason why people become Parliamentarians is the fact that they have been voted by a mass of citizenry. Whatever Advani’s shortcomings, he has consistently won Lok Sabha elections while Arun Shourie got there through the backdoor. Aside, Vajpayee’s pan Indian appeal is to a great extent manufactured. Sita Ram Goel has in a book (I forget which) called him a windbag. Indeed, when Vajpayee was in the Janata cabinet, China was thrilled more than anybody else because they saw in him “another Nehru.” More importantly, Gaurav seems to forget that it was Advani’s appeal and effort that made the Rath Yatra a huge success, almost an overnight turning of the political table. Vajpayee’s oratory and shallow pacifism was what actually hampered the BJP’s image to an extent. This is in no way an intent to tarnish Vajpayee’s accomplishments but to add balance by bringing in the man’s failings as well.
I also have serious doubts about Arun Shourie’s ability to handle coalition dharma (sic) given that he has been a lifelong champion of battling the very forces that wreck coalition dharma. Who do you think is a better candidate to negotiate for peace with a hoodlum like Raj Thackeray or Karunanidhi if they became the BJP’s coalition partners–a practising politician like Advani or Arun Shourie? Besides, we have seen how Arun Shourie’s efforts as disinvestment minister was scuttled by members of the NDA itself. He has described some of those machinations in his amazing Governance: the Sclerosis that has set in.
Whatever Arun Shourie’s appeal to the urban middle class, this section’s votes don’t really matter. We’ve seen that in repeated elections, this class barely manages to vote: intent therefore doesn’t translate to results. Only rural votes matter, and these voters simply don’t identify with an impressively-educated, suit-wearing intellectual who speaks about India’s vision and policy in a language they don’t understand. In fact, I suspect they view him with suspicion intermixed with disdain. Advani or a similar leader is pretty malleable in that he both understands Arun Shourie’s language, and will speak to the rural masses in the language they understand.
Arun Shourie has for most of his life battled the system from outside: as a journalist and a writer. After becoming a relative insider, he has expanded and enriched his work by giving an insider’s perspective but that’s about it. He is till date not an active, practising politician and given his record, I hope he doesn’t become one. There is a reason why political parties seek out intellectual giants like Arun Shourie–they need that kind of guidance. Recruiting such people into mainstream politics will kill their intellectual spirit and public life will end up all the poorer for that. Professional politicians cannot come up with policy formulations. Whatever Arun Shourie’s visions on policy and governance, there’s no way he can see them through completion if he occupies the PM’s chair. Not especially in a nation like India where the only job of the Opposition is to mindlessly oppose.
Perhaps, Arun Shourie-as-Prime Minister works when “all things are equal,” not when the dice is overwhelmingly loaded in the losing direction.
Tags: Arun Shourie, Arun Shourie as Prime Minister, BJP, Elections 2009, Gaurav, India, Indian Politics, Intellectuals vs Politicians, L.K. Advani
19. January 2009 - 6:47 PM
Sandeep,
I totally agree with your view. I admire Arun Shourie as an intellectual.
But today we need a bold leader like Advani who can influence the masses.
19. January 2009 - 8:36 PM
I third that.. Arun Shourie doesn’t have the charisma to inspire the masses. Although he can awe us with his amazing insight into stuff.
He might be useful though.. as an advisor or something..
19. January 2009 - 10:43 PM
India doesn’t deserve a person like Arun Shourie.
19. January 2009 - 11:32 PM
Some years back, if you would have asked anybody to name a person of BJP, the one name which would dominate everyone else would have been of Advani’s. Now we hear lot of names like Shourie, Jaitley, Modi, each one good in his own right. But Advani is the essence of BJP, he is the perfect embodiment of the party, after Advani there will be a void no one else can fill. And of course to implement his policies Shourie need not be a PM.
20. January 2009 - 12:19 AM
Sandeep sir,
With due regards to you.. is there no way you can stop this person ‘ZOHAIL’ from flooding your posts with senseless comments??… There are reasons
1)He uses no logic
2)We miss out on the rather important discussions that would have otherwise taken place
3)He is being given undue limelight and he aint worthy of it.
Please do somethin about it.
20. January 2009 - 1:11 AM
So Sandeep,
Arun’s talent should be to handle coalition dharma? Is that the Indian governance you root for? Do you want ‘your’ candidate to waste time in ‘negotiating peace’?
Arun speaks good Hindi and given a chance he would impress and educate the rural sector better than many others. Though I wonder if he would do that.
Well, should we care if a PM is able to realise all his plans? How about setting them in motion till you are forced to leave? Now that would leave an impression. Just like the disinvestment process, although unfinished, is mentioned in your paragraphs.
20. January 2009 - 5:14 AM
Kartikey,
I think Coalition politics has become a necessary evil and I think it is here to stay for foreseeable future.
In such a scenario I think we would all want BJP to form a coalition capable of forming government than the one currently in power. Sadly the reality is Congress will always find it easier to form a coalition than BJP due to the tag that BJP is communal and none of the smaller parties with handful of seats wanting their electorate to see them as aligning with a communal party.
So it becomes all the more important for a person who is capable of stitching a coalition for BJP and maintaining it through out the entire term to lead that coalition. I do not know if Arun Shourie has that rapport with regional parties. If you look at Advani turning secular with the pep talk on Jinnah, is more towards wooing these smaller parties rather than attracting the minority votes. (my guess – I may be wrong)
20. January 2009 - 8:19 AM
Arun Shourie wrote a nasty book on Ambedkar and has pissed off the 15% Dalits, so he can never be PM
Also a PM has to often diplomatically hold his tongue
and Arun Shourie is someone needed to make exposes
20. January 2009 - 10:47 AM
I agree Arun Shourie would not make a good Prime Minister because he is not a mass leader and also too uncompromising to deal with coalition partners.
That being said – I think he should be made Human Resources Development minister. The HRD ministry is the key – even more than finance or industry to the making of a new India. The Communists and their ‘progressive’ friends have totally subverted public discourse by capturing institutions controlled or funded by the GoI. Instead of having peer-reviewed and independently funded research in the humanities, we have ‘sarkaari pundits’ like that pervert Ashis Nandy telling us that the only thing wrong with India is Hindu self-hatred.
Tha last attempt to detoxify ICHR, ICSSR, ICAER and other such I&*^R’s ended up looking like an amateurish counter-subversion attempt by Murli Manohar Joshi. Shourie is a different cup of tea. He is clever enough to deal a death blow to these self-righteous ‘eminent scholars’
That and the absolutely critical reform in liberalising and opening up higher education to private (and even foreign) capital can only be done by Dr. Shourie (and it is Dr. guys – not many people know the guy has a PhD. in economics). Sandeep I hope you will start a petition for “Shourie for HRD Minister”
20. January 2009 - 12:07 PM
We speak of mass leader like it was a qualification, its a vice. We as the masses should question by now that we have seen leaders after leaders each more eager to pander to sensitivities of certain sections and ready to compromise and often twist the truth. This is the kind of person who convinces the masses and emerges as a mass leader. The question is not of whether Shourie would make a good choice, its to judge whether we would be ready to place at helm a person who does not succumb to the temptations of votebank politics and political talioring.
Arun Shourie is a courageous leader in his own right and has taken the toughest stances in the past with ample justification for the same. He is meticulous and works at the various aspects of everything. Admittedly, my argument is a deeper one, that of electoral politics vs. good governance. And as I see it, they are placed at loggerheads with each other. So Shourie is my excuse, he does not stand for electoral politics, but he stands for better governance.
21. January 2009 - 8:08 PM
>We speak of mass leader like it was a qualification, its a vice.
Hear hear.
There is a vast difference between doing the nice thing and doing the right thing. Mass appeal means you do the former, and you have india.
Do the right thing — like Lee Kuan Yiew did (on most occasions) — and you have a place like singapore.
21. January 2009 - 9:02 PM
Shourie’s talents can be better utilised in other areas, not necessarily in the PMO.
I for once would love to have him in the defence ministry – long overdue cleanup of the procurement process, support to indigenous R&D efforts, some longterm planning and rationality in to the way our military is sturctured keeping in mind longterm challenges etc. He is the man for this post.
Also, his admirable stint as telecom mantri cannot be forgotten. More institutional mechanisms needed that will outlast governments and will administer according to rules rather than mantri whims.
22. January 2009 - 4:13 PM
Dear Sandeep
I totally disagree with you. Arun Shouri is a quitessential nationalist and a supercompetent and honest one at that. That alone is sufficient for the post which has maximum impact of the country. Coalition politics and all other points you mention can easily be managed backstage and this assuming Arun is not capable of handling opponents. If you actually look back and see, the no of powerful people, lobbies,system he has taken on has no parallels in contenmprary history starting from antuley in 70′s,reliance, indira congress juggernaut,disinvestment,prolific books on multitude of issues.You got this one completely wrong my friend. More than anything else in his defence is his moral certitude which makes him the most suitable indian for that role.
Thanks
Rao
22. January 2009 - 5:02 PM
Dear Rao,
I believe I’ve answered all your questions in my post itself but if you insist, here goes.
>>Arun Shouri is a quitessential nationalist and a supercompetent and honest one at that. That alone is sufficient for the post which has maximum impact of the country.
One word: honesty is not the best politics.
>>Coalition politics and all other points you mention can easily be managed backstage…
Are you sure? What explains Vajpayee government’s fall at the hands of Jayalalithaa? do you want to argue that Arun Shourie is a more seasoned politician than Vajpayee?
As for the rest–fighting Indira Gandhi, Antulay, etc, my post has more than adequately answered them. As for moral certitude, see my comment above on honesty in politics.
Please expand your thinking horizons.
23. January 2009 - 11:55 PM
sandeep,
I agree that it was Advani without a doubt who was instrumental in getting the BJP to the ruling party status 5 years back. unfortunately Vajpayee became the PM with ministers like Jaswant Singh and destroyed the very essence of what BJP stood for. Let me say this with a heavy heart – BJP has no chance this time around as the rot that Vajpayee set in, will take some time to recover. Having said that, I must say that Arun Shourie is a great man. He and his father has done a lot for the country. yes, He hasn’t and maybe cannot win an election on his own but please don’t criticise him for criticism sake. He is a very articulate person and many times I have seen that when he comes to the Congress TV channel – NDTV, he cuts short Barkha and her ilk when they try to stop him from saying what he wants to say whereas our BJP spokesperson called Jadvekar and a few others totally makes an idiot of themselves whenever they are there.
Jai Hind
26. January 2009 - 10:05 AM
i second ghost writer.
6. March 2009 - 1:24 AM
yup … not a bad idea..give him hrd and let him make education more about truth and more accessible and open .. i am sure he can pilot the ship thru tough seas … afterall in a billion people nation , the people are the biggest wealth ..
19. May 2009 - 1:36 AM
Excellent
“A very basic reason why people become Parliamentarians is the fact that they have been voted by a mass of citizenry” — you said
From which constituency did Manmohan Singh got himself elected?
How many times did he get elected?
15. August 2009 - 9:31 PM
and speaking of ARUN SHOURIE …
what happened to any write up about arun shourie’s (g)ripping 4 part series fully exposing the bigotry at the helm in the bjp ?
would it be far from the truth to say that bjp backing bloggers like u ,bhavananda , shantanu , indianrealist and the like have conspicuously stayed away from arun shourie , esp after the elections? is there a story behind this looking the otherway?
17. August 2009 - 12:52 AM
@ sandeep
…. i was hoping for a reply to my previous comment , still do …
continuing on ARUN SHOURIE …
… but what is this business of neglecting ARUN SHOURIE and sinha …. do u seriously think the bjp is really gonna reform doing things like this …. looks like the top brass does not have the balls to face some honest criticism but still wants all power …. this is delusional on the part of the party …. there can be nothing wrong about how shourie expressed himself thru the media … this is not a private party .. they need to face criticism in the open thru more such transparent debates and exchanges … ignoring such useful people is not the right thing to do …
and btw i have noticed that comments regarding arun shourie in this vein dont seem to make it to the screen on FRIENDSOFBJP ….may be i am wrong ?!! is it because his views are neglected there too ?
.. how else can u explain that there has been no mention about his 4 part series even in discussions? isnt that one of the most important piece of advice the party needs to look at to re-invent itself? instead they choose to brush it all under the carpet and throw him out of discussions … do u think they deserve to win elections?
17. August 2009 - 11:30 AM
it looks like its fashionable in bjp to hate arun shourie and potentially bad if u dont as exemplified by the friendsofbjp.org group …. they dont seem to have the least bit of inkling that he has written that 4 part series , atleast that is wht their website wants u to think …. ya right … i am glad they lost the elections … esp friendsofbjp.org has simply proved to be another coterie that cannot take on criticism constructively , clearly exemplified by the way they negelect arun shourie …
31. August 2009 - 12:03 AM
It is not a question of PMpost.Shouri has rightly pointed out BJP’s lack of priorities.He is a fighter against corruption,sycophancy,speudo secularism.He should lead from the front and his voice counts in day to day politics,it has essence.