Shashi Tharoor: Modi government is one-man govt, overcentralised and inefficient

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday, November 4, slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for running an overcentralised and inefficient government.

"The country is having an overcentralised, top-down and inefficient government at the centre," he said here, adding that India is having the most centralised PMO in history.

In the upcoming polls, the Congress will come up with various alliances, both before and after the elections, and parties will collectively decide who would be the most acceptable face for prime minister, he said.

"The big difference between any such government and Modi government is that Modi is a one-man government. He is a hero on a white stallion with upraised sword saying I know all the answers and will solve all your problems. That is the style of leadership Modi incorporates.

"Alternative is that the bunch of guys on foot saying we do not know all the answers but will ask you what are the questions that you have and we will work with experienced, qualified and capable people to find answers to your questions," he said at an interactive session organised by International Chamber of Business &Industry.

Speaking on the leadership of Rahul Gandhi as the Congress' President, Tharoor said Gandhi was the "unquestionable and popular choice of the workers".

When asked the party was not able to bring fresh faces in terms of leadership amid the dominance of Nehru-Gandhi family within the outfit, he said, "The Congress has a broader notion of leadership than just one individual. We had a number of distinguished leaders like Pranab da (Mukherjee), P Chidambaram and others having tremendous track record and they developed stellar reputation."

He said, "The party does not only depend on the reputation of one man or leader. In BJP, they have just one man, the Prime Minister, and everybody else seems to be dancing attendance upon one man."

Criticising the cow vigilantism on the social issues, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram also said the killing of human beings in the name of protecting cows is one of the most "bizarre incidents" of Indian politics.

"Of all the incidents of cow vigilantism that had occurred since 1947 in the history of modern India, 97% of them took place under the rule of Modi government," he said.