Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has revealed in her newly published memoir that she has had virtually no substantive interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi across more than a decade of his tenure — describing their relationship as one defined by formal distance and deliberate avoidance.

What the Memoir Says

In 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', a 544-page autobiography published by HarperCollins India and released on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, Gandhi writes candidly about her equation with the man she identifies as her 'biggest' political adversary. 'Narendra Damodardas Modi has been the Prime Minister of India for more than twelve years as of this writing and is now in his third term in office. To this day, I've had practically no real contact with him,' she writes.

Gandhi describes their encounters at semi-official gatherings — typically held at the close of each Parliament session — as perfunctory at best. 'It's a very small room, and usually many people are present, but when he comes face-to-face with me, we greet each other with a formal namaste. This is different from the past, when leaders across party divides would treat one another with cordiality. He tends to look away, avoiding eye contact,' she writes.

Brief Exchanges, No Real Conversations

Beyond those formal greetings, Gandhi says the two have never held a real conversation. 'Apart from such brief exchanges, we have never really conversed, though we've exchanged formal birthday and New Year greetings over the years,' she notes. The memoir does, however, document one moment of human exchange: when PM Modi enquired after her health following her discharge from hospital, asking 'Theek hain aap? (Are you alright?)' — to which she replied, 'Ji, ab main theek hoon, shukriya (Yes, thank you... I am okay now).'

Ideological Fault Lines

Gandhi draws a stark contrast between her political vision and Modi's, arguing that they inhabit 'different ideological worlds.' She writes that 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.' She also objects to what she describes as coarse language and name-calling directed by the serving Prime Minister at India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, attributing it to his 'conditioning' by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

BJP's Response

The memoir has already drawn sharp pushback from the BJP, which has mounted criticism of the book, calling it an attempt to 'whitewash the history.' The political ripple from Gandhi's disclosures — spanning her personal observations, ideological differences, and commentary on the current government — is widely expected to deepen the already considerable distance between the two principal national parties.

Significance of the Book

This is a rare instance of a senior Congress leader offering a first-person, on-record account of the nature of cross-party relations at the highest level of Indian politics. Notably, Gandhi served as Congress President for two stints totalling over two decades, making her memoir one of the most significant political autobiographies to emerge from the Opposition in recent years. The book's release comes as the Congress is recalibrating its strategy ahead of several state elections, lending additional weight to the political context of her disclosures.