Amid a political debate over his exchange of festive greetings and mutual praise with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Sam Pitroda has said he is surprised by the attention the interaction has received.
Sam Pitroda, who heads the Congress’s overseas unit, said his exchange of Diwali and New Year wishes with the Prime Minister was purely personal and should not be viewed through a political lens.
In an interview, Pitroda said that this is a “very human thing” that they did and that there was no scope for “Political” rivalry being seen as “personal”.
The Congress leader said he has always believed himself to be a friend and well-wisher of the Prime Minister Modi and further said that personal equations are possible in the face of politics.
“We can’t mix politics and personal courtship,” Pitroda said, “my personal relations are not affecting my politics and my politics are not interfering with my personal relationships.”
Pitroda also said that Modi was always warm, welcoming and caring towards him and his wife. But he had never during the period had a meeting with the Prime Minister from the time of Modi’s installation in office, he added.
The meeting was of interest because of the political allegiances of the two leaders who were Pitroda, a top Congress leader, and a close aide of the party chief, and Lal Krishna Advani, a former RSS chief and BJP leader.
These comments reiterate Pitroda’s belief that political differences and relationships can be kept apart. He has insisted that the greetings handed to him by the Prime Minister and vice-versa were only words of personal goodwill and do not convey anything political or political implication.