Sonia Gandhi Reflects on Political Career and Family History in Memoir

Sonia Gandhi, the former president of the Indian National Congress, has released a memoir detailing her transition from an Italian upbringing to the center of India’s most prominent political dynasty.

The book, titled Belonging: A Journey of Love, covers her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi, the assassinations of her husband and mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and her eventual entry into public life.

The memoir provides a personal account of the 1975-1977 Emergency, a period Gandhi described as a mistake that her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, eventually came to regret.

“Keeping Sanjay in check could have prevented much of the damage that followed,” Gandhi wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

Gandhi noted that while the public often associates the Emergency solely with Sanjay Gandhi, pressure from senior colleagues also influenced the decision to impose the measure.

“I always feel that Mrs Gandhi was a democrat at heart,” she told The Guardian. “I know that many would laugh at this, but I believe she was never comfortable in the course of the emergency.”

Reflecting on her own political path, Gandhi said she initially disliked politics but felt compelled to lead the Congress party following the assassination of her husband in 1991.

She also addressed the current political climate, criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party for causing what she termed great damage to the fabric of India’s democracy and its institutions.

Gandhi acknowledged that the Congress party bears some responsibility for the rise of the BJP, noting that the party had been too complacent in its approach to political challenges.

“I think we have been too complacent in many ways. There was a laissez-faire kind of an attitude,” she said.

The memoir also recounts her early life in Italy and her meeting with Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge during the 1960s, which she described as a transformative moment.

“It was a coup de foudre,” she said of their first meeting. “After that, nothing else really mattered.”

The book, published by HarperCollins India, marks the first time Gandhi has provided an extensive, personal account of her life, a process she said took over a decade to complete.