Brijesh Kumar Singh, the group consulting editor of News18 Network, wrote an opinion piece this morning, calling prime minister Narendra Modi “the leader” who “helps people without making any noise”. The same piece was translated to Hindi as well.

What prompted this vote of appreciation masquerading as an opinion piece, you ask?

Modi’s “heartfelt” letter and phone call, described as “full of empathy”, to ABP News anchor Rubika Liyaquat, offering condolences on her mother’s demise.

Singh added that Modi, who has been called a “villian” for the Muslim community by his critics, gave the anchor greetings for Eid. But Liyaquat is just one of the many beneficiaries of the “leader’s” love and help, one of those who “do not talk about it in the open, for they do not know [how] the world, or the PM himself, would react to it.”

What followed is a string of anecdotes on how Modi has helped not only journalists but “millions of people”, “both officially and personally”. Sadly, these stories are withheld from the public domain because the prime minister’s “political adversaries have always attempted to create a deceitful image of him” although he is, in fact, “a kind person who helps people in distress”.

Worry not, because Singh – whose byline describes him as “one of India's most credible journalists” – has lifted this cone of silence.

For starters, Singh described how a resident editor of a newspaper in Delhi had the “novel experience” of getting help from Modi despite their newspaper having an “anti-establishment” stand. The journalist was seriously ill, Singh explained, and being a “critic” of Modi, “he was unable to understand how, despite being so busy, PM Modi found the time to call him”. It was a story with a happy ending, because “the call gave him strength to fight his illness more vigorously”.

Another senior journalist told Singh about how Modi instructed him to get treatment for the journalist’s wife at the Swami Vivekanand Yoga Research Institute in Bengaluru. Singh wrote, “When the journalist reached the institute, he found that all arrangements had already been made for him on PM Modi’s instructions. This surprised the journalist, and he also came to know that Modi had recommended many people to the institute, who had gone back home after getting rid of their illness.”

Detailing his own fond memories of the prime minister helping him when he had a heatstroke in 2004, Singh concluded, “I had not talked about this aspect of Modi publicly. Had I done this earlier, it would have been assumed as ‘propaganda’. Now, Modi has reached such a high position that even if these stories appear in the public domain, they would not affect him. But this may help millions of Indians know Modi on a deeper level...”

Now, who is the audience for this story, you may wonder? A quick glance at Twitter might solve this puzzle.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the surname of the News18 writer as Mishra. This has been corrected to Singh.