Sonia Gandhi Memoir Details Political Divide and Limited Contact With PM Modi

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi states in her new memoir, 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', that she and Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold sharply different visions of India. Published by HarperCollins India and on sale since Tuesday, the book describes their political differences as ideological rather than personal. Gandhi writes that she has had practically no real contact with Modi beyond formal greetings and occasional brief exchanges during her twelve years in office as of this writing and his third term. According to Gandhi, their encounters mostly happen at semi-official events, such as the customary gathering of major party leaders in the Speaker's chamber after each Parliament session. While they exchange a formal namaste in the small room, she notes that Modi tends to avoid eye contact and look away, unlike past times when cross-party leaders treated each other with cordiality. Beyond brief health inquiries after hospital returns and birthday or New Year greetings, the two have barely spoken.

Ideological Differences

Gandhi traces their political divergence to contrasting backgrounds, contrasting her own outlook formed through family public service and an inclusive, secular India with Modi's worldview shaped by his RSS upbringing. She characterizes his ideology as one placing faith and culture above others with an emphasis on hierarchy, order, and control, noting he fought for his vision while she fought for an India against hegemony. Although she can understand some of Modi's unease with the political elite due to her own discomfort in Delhi drawing rooms, she questions whether his origins were as humble as his public relations team claims, while acknowledging he rose through the RSS from an underprivileged environment. Gandhi also criticizes Modi's parliamentary speeches, stating he sometimes uses coarse language and tirades to deride the opposition, with Jawaharlal Nehru being a particular target of BJP hostility for setting the nation on a democratic and secular course. She describes the BJP goal of a Congress-free India as an attempt to remove the party, its policies, and ideology, attributing this hostility to an RSS-driven interpretation of Hinduism turned into a political program. According to The Hindu - National, the memoir also reflects on the impact of twelve years of BJP-RSS rule on Indian democracy and defends the party's fight for a level playing field.

Context

Memoirs by senior political figures often offer a personal perspective on long-standing parliamentary rivalries and historical events. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Indian National Congress have represented distinct ideological streams in Indian politics for decades. Such books frequently attract widespread public discussion about the nature of contemporary political competition in the country.