PM Narendra Modi in conversation with Bollywood star Akshay Kumar reveals how Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are in a race to give the best gifts to him.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may be intense rivals in the electoral arena but behind the scenes, they are gift-giving buddies, well, almost. In a freewheeling interview, PM Modi revealed his and Mamata didi's relationship to actor Akshay Kumar.
The 51-year-old star took to Twitter to announce that his conversation with the Prime Minister will be a "breather" in election time. The interview was conducted at the Prime Minister's official residence.
"While the whole country is talking elections and politics, here's a breather. Privileged to have done this candid and COMPLETELY NON POLITICAL freewheeling conversation with our PM @narendramodi," Kumar wrote on the microblogging site.
Have many good friends in Opposition, Mamata Banerjee sends Kurtas and sweets to me: Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Read@ANI story | https://t.co/RhAvc1zE0O pic.twitter.com/AEdpvJYwu9
Modi and Didi's sweet and bitter relationship:
During the interview, Modi said, “Despite all the rivalry, didi personally selects and sends me kurtas every year. She also sends me sweets as she knows I am fond of Bengali sweets.”
PM Modi and Mamata are known to have criticised each other during the campaign for ongoing Lok Sabha elections. While Modi called didi ‘speed breaker didi’ and she hit back with ‘expiry babu’ jibe.
: PM Narendra Modi and Akshay Kumar’s interaction at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg (LKM) in Delhi. https://t.co/5FodYsR4ZN
— ANI (@ANI)Modi also revealed a funny incident during the interview, revealing that when Mamata didi came to know that the Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sent him the famous Bengali sweets from Dhaka, she also did the same. "Once Mamata didi found out, she also started sending me sweets once or twice a year," Modi chuckled.
Talking about his equation with opposition leaders, PM Modi said: “we share good ties”. Narrating an incident, he said that once he and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad were chatting in Parliament House for a long time, which surprised many who wanted to know the secret of this camaraderie. “Azad gave a very good reply. He said we are like a family”, the PM added.
Akshay asked PM Modi how he manages to get through the day with just three hours of sleep. To this, PM Modi replies, “Whenever I meet Obama, he also asks me the same thing. He asks me why I do this. Every time he meets me, he asks me if I have started sleeping more or not.”
PM Narendra Modi in an interaction with Akshay Kumar speaks on his friendship with former US President Barack Obama pic.twitter.com/rGxgPJAAlC
— ANI (@ANI)(Inputs from PTI/ANI)
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