New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday extended Diwali and Gujarati New Year greetings to Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda after the latter referred to him as a “Gujarati friend” and termed him “very kind” and “hardworking” during an interview with IANS.
In a post on X, PM Modi said: “Happy Diwali and Nutan Varsh Abhinandan to you Sam Bhai and to Anjana Ben.”
“Praying for a joyful and healthy year ahead. Jai Jagannath!,” he added.
Earlier, Pitroda described Prime Minister Modi as a “good orator” who is “very warm, kind, loving and caring”, while adding that he has no “personal issues” with the Prime Minister.
Pitroda’s surprising remarks came in response to a question about Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi once describing PM Modi as a “big orator”.
Asked for his opinion of the Prime Minister, Pitroda, in an exclusive interview with IANS, said that he “respects him (PM Modi) as a person” and thinks that he is “hardworking”.
“He (PM Modi) is a Gujarati friend. I respect him as a person. I met him. My wife and I met him. He’s been very warm, very kind, very loving, caring at a personal level. Of course, he’s a good orator, hardworking, okay. We get along well,” Pitroda told IANS.
“We have no personal issues. I have nothing against Mr Modi as a Gujarati leader, friend, and well-wisher. He’s very warm to me. No issues about that. I appreciate that,” he further said.
The Congress leader said that the issues he has with PM Modi are based on ideologies and not on a personal level.
“And equally on my side, you know, I’ve been to his house in Gujarat several times. But I may have issues with his views of the world. I may have issues with his ideology. But that’s a separate issue; that’s not against the individual. It’s against the idea. And these are two separate things. You know, I can disagree with Mr Modi, and I can also have dinner with him and have a laugh. So I have no issues,” he added.
–IANS
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