US ambassador: Modi ‘insular, distrustful person.. reigns by fear and intimidation

NEW DELHI, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was trending on Twitter on Tuesday, thanks to certain uncomplimentary observations by a US consulate official describing him as an “insular and distrustful person” and which have been published on Wikileaks.

While some of the Twitterati gleefully played up certain uncomplimentary observations about Modi, a few others felt the Gujarat strongman needed nobody’s certificate and that all knew how good he was.

While one of the tweets read: “@friendscongress US ambassador: Modi ‘insular, distrustful person.. reigns by fear and intimidation.. hoards power..”, another felt that Wikileaks was using Modi’s name for publicity.

“Modi does not not need any certificate from Wikileaks.. we all know how good Modiji is..,” said @kunalchoudhary9 in his tweet.

In the post, also released on the Wikileaks Twitter handle, US consul general Michael S. Owen makes a number of observations on the Gujarat chief minister’s style of functioning, how the voters in his state perceive him and his ambitions of running for the post of Prime Minister.

The US official gives some interesting insight when he says that while Modi “can be charming and likeable in public appearances, he is a distrustful person who rules with a small group of advisers”.

Modi, who is often seen as trying to strike a chord with the masses and saying at public rallies that he is like the common man, is described as someone who has his group of advisors, “his inner circle”, that act as a “buffer” between him and his party and cabinet.

The official writes that Modi, the prime ministerial hopeful pitched by the country’s largest opposition party, is someone who “reigns more by fear and intimidation than by inclusiveness and consensus”.

Owen writes that Modi is “rude”, “hoards power” and often leaves his ministers in the dark when making decisions affecting their portfolios.

The official, in the filing dated November 2006, also favours interacting with Modi at regular intervals as his rise within the party seemed likely, and it would “shield” his office of the accusations of opportunism later on