His admirers have often described him as the Hindu Hriday Samrat, the King of Hindu Hearts. But in the minds of the officials who run the Gujarat government’s PR department, Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems to have already made the leap that elevates him from royalty to godliness.

On Thursday, the Information Department of the Gujarat government circulated a press release about the Chief Minister’s visit to the Tarnetar Mela in Saurashtra. The release described a purported conversation between a village woman and her young son, in which the Modi was referred to as a “God with a beard”.

This is a translation of what the press release said:

“Here, in the land of the Panchals, where the traditional Tarnetar Mela is organised, enjoying and being a part of the Mela has become a part of the rural culture. In this Mela, everyone comes — rich and poor, old and young. On the third day of the Mela, the conversation between a village mother and son following the arrival of Chief Minister Narendrabhai Modi aroused the curiosity of people.

When Chief Minister Narendrabhai Modi came at Tarnetar in the afternoon, the helicopter induced a wave of enthusiasm amongst the village folk. When the Chief Minister was coming towards Trinetreshwar Temple after watching the rural Olympics, the area around the special road built for the CM near the temple precincts was choc a bloc with people. In this crowd, the young son of Shrimati Dhuliben of Vijadiya village asked, ‘Mother, who has arrived?’ To this innocently posed question, Dhuliben spontaneously replied, ‘Son, this is God with a beard.’ Dhuliben’s son on hearing the reply, looked at the Chief Minister from a distance, with devotion.”