London, November 11: Former spin doctor for Tony Blair and former BBC journalist Lance Price, who wrote the book on the Modi wave, has said that he was paid (an undisclosed amount), to write the book. A report published in the The Times, UK, said that Price had ‘never heard’ of prime minister Narnedra Modi, before he was approached by one of his associates to write the book. He had written the book, ‘The Modi Effect’, that was published earlier this year, after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in a landslide victory, in the 2014 General elections. Also Read - Reassess COVID Situation, Focus on Micro Containment Zones: PM Modi to CMs of 7 Worst-hit States

The Times report says that while Price denied being ‘a pen for hire’, he accepted that he had been given money for the project. “They paid for not all but some of the flights backwards and forwards and some of the accommodation”, Price was quoted as saying by the report. “I said, ‘If I do this I am going to be out of the UK a lot and there’s my usual freelance earnings will take a hit’ so I got some financial support to compensate for that”, he said. He however, clarified that his ‘financial arrangements’ did not extend to approval or editing of his manuscript. Also Read: PM Modi rally in Bihar: Accuses Nitish Kumar of misusing Rs 450 crore allotted for EBC; calls him ineffective chief minister Also Read - Shaheen Bagh's 82-Year-Old Bilkis Named in Time Magazine's List of 100 Most Influential People

“To be fair to them, they never said ‘You can’t say this or ask this’,” Price reportedly told The Times. The publicity director of the book’s publishing house also supported Price’s claims and said that nobody controlled what Lance said in the book. He also revealed that Price did receive some financial help from an ‘anonymous source’. On Tuesday, however, Price denied reports in the British media, that he had never met Modi even once before he began writing the book, saying that he had interviewed the PM on four occasions earlier during his visits to India. Also Read - PM Modi to Hold High-level Meeting With CMs of 7 States/UTs Today | What to Expect