Sonia Gandhi recalls formal greetings and distance with Modi (Img: Video Grab)
New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi revealed that she has no personal interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She says that the interaction with PM Modi is largely limited to formal greetings at official gatherings, where the Prime Minister generally avoids making eye contact with her.
The revelation was made in her new memoir, "Belonging: A Journey of Love". She says whenever they come face to face, they exchange a formal 'namaste'.
"To this day, I've had practically no real contact with him. We meet at semi-official gatherings - for instance, at the Speaker's chamber," she writes.
She also says that their interactions lack the cordiality which used to characterise relationships between political leaders across party lines.
The 544-page memoir is scheduled to hit bookstores across India on November 10. It also provides Gandhi's account of the ideological differences that have shaped her political relationship with Modi.
Memoir provides Gandhi's account of the ideological differences with Modi (Img: X)
Sonia Gandhi portrays her political rivalry with PM Modi as there is a contest between two contrasting ideological visions of India rather than a personal dispute. She says their differences stemmed from their respective ideas about the country's future.
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"He was fighting for his vision of India, and I for mine: an India against hegemony, an India that stands for inclusiveness, secularism, and social justice. It wasn't personal," she writes.
In her memoir, despite their political differences, Sonia Gandhi acknowledges that she could relate to Modi's experiences on certain aspects, particularly his discomfort with the elite social and political circles in Delhi.
She recalls that discussions among sections of the political establishment often appeared disconnected from the everyday struggles and realities of ordinary Indians.
"There were elements of his discomfort with the ruling elite of our times that I, too, had come to understand well," she writes.
Gandhi also refers to Modi's rise from an underprivileged background through the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), noting his gradual ascent within the organisation.
"He had certainly worked his way to power within the RSS from an underprivileged world," she writes.
The former Congress president also links Modi's critical remarks about India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to what she describes as his ideological conditioning within the RSS.
Beyond her political experiences, Belonging: A Journey of Love traces Gandhi's journey from her childhood in post-war Italy to her eventual emergence as one of the most influential figures in Indian politics.
