WikiLeaks show Narendra Modi honest: BJP

In an appraisal of the CM,Owen adds: “Modi has successfully branded himself as a non-corrupt,effective administrator,as a facilitator of business in a state with a deep commercial culture,and as a no-nonsense,law-and-order politician who looks after the interests of the Hindu majority.”

After a lecture at Pandit Deen Dayal University at Gandhinagar on Tuesday,Modi said the cable acknowledges him as “incorruptible” and refers to Gujarat as “a progressive state”. “There are many non-corrupt people,but they have termed me incorruptible,which is good for the people of Gujarat. WikiLeaks shows two faces — that of the government of India and another of progressive Gujarat.”

In a press release,the BJP said the US documents only assert and prove that Modi is the lone politician in India to be honest,fearless and clean.

The BJP rubbed in the fact that the same US government had denied Modi a visa after the 2002 riots,and said America seemed to be “in a mood to repent”.

In the cable,Owen comments on the denial of the visa,saying: “We believe that Modi’s rise in the BJP seems likely. In coordination with Embassy New Delhi,we intend to continue our policy of interaction with the Chief Minister,whose B1/B2 visa we revoked in 2005. Such interaction allows us to deliver a clear message on human rights and religious freedom directly to the source.”

While delighting in Owen’s praise,Modi reacted to this part of the cable too,saying he needed “no lesson” on human rights from the US. He said he had told Owen as much at a meeting in 2006.