NEW DELHI, Mar 25:
Senior BJP leader L K Advani today said while the US Government had refused a visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a report prepared by a think tank of the US Congress has “praised” Mr Modi for his governance.
The US Government had denied visa to Mr Modi in 2005 in the wake of post-Godhra riots.
Mr Advani, in his latest blog, said after Father of the Nation Mahatama Gandhi and Sardar Patel, Mr Modi features on cover of the Time magazine.
“This year, this US periodical reputed to be the world’s largest circulated news weekly carried on the cover of its issue dated March 26- Gujarat’s Narendra Bhai Modi. The caption given to the cover is: Modi Means Business,” he said.
Mr Advani added that in 2008, he had raised the matter of denial of visa to Mr Modi during the visit of then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India.
Mr Advani stated that he had said to her that this may be the first time that an elected Chief Minister of a State in the world’s largest and most vibrant democracy has been denied a visa and what really surprised all was that the denial of visa had been announced by the US without Mr Modi having sought it (visa).
“The irony is that while the US Government has refused a visa to Modi, a report prepared by a think tank of the US Congress has in a 100-page report assigned very high marks to Modi for his governance,” he further said in the blog.
Mr Advani said this report says: “Perhaps India’s best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat (population 60 million), where “controversial” Chief Minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the State a key driver of national economic growth.”
Mr Modi figures on the cover of the forthcoming issue of Time magazine which praises him in an article for development of Gujarat where the BJP has been in power for over a decade.(UNI)
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