Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said she and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are pursuing sharply different visions of India. She also said that PM Modi tends to avoid eye contact when the two leaders meet. In her memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, she described their political differences as ideological rather than personal, according to an excerpt published by news agency PTI .

Gandhi writes that she has had “practically no real contact” with Modi beyond formal greetings and occasional brief exchanges. Published by HarperCollins India, the book went on sale on Tuesday.

Gandhi says their encounters largely take place at semi-official events, including the customary gathering of major party leaders in the Speaker’s chamber after each Parliament session. They exchange a formal namaste , she writes, but Modi tends to “avoid eye contact” when they meet.

She describes PM Modi as a leader who “worked his way to power within the RSS from an underprivileged world”.…