In a post on X, Modi addressed Pitroda as ‘Sam Bhai’ and his wife as ‘Anjana Ben’, writing: “Happy Diwali and Nutan Varsh Abhinandan to you Sam Bhai and to Anjana Ben.”

“Praying for a joyful and healthy year ahead. Jai Jagannath!” the Prime Minister added.

The exchange comes after Pitroda, in an exclusive interview with IANS, described Modi as a “good orator”, “hardworking” and a warm and caring person, while making it clear that his differences with the Prime Minister were ideological rather than personal.

Asked about Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s earlier description of Modi as a “big orator”, Pitroda said he respected the Prime Minister as an individual and had no personal issues with him.

“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.

Emphasising that he had nothing against Modi personally, the Congress leader said he appreciated the warmth shown by the Prime Minister towards him.

“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 said.

However, Pitroda drew a distinction between his personal relationship with Modi and his disagreement with the Prime Minister’s political views and ideology.

“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,” he said.

Pitroda added that political disagreements did not prevent people from sharing a cordial personal relationship.

“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.

(With IANS inputs)