Sonia Gandhi’s Memoir to Chronicle Love, Loss and Her Decision to Decline India’s Top Post

NEW YORK, Aug 18: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi is set to offer a deeply personal account of her life, family and political journey in a new memoir scheduled to be released later this year.

Alfred A Knopf announced on Tuesday that Gandhi’s book, “Belonging: A Journey of Love,” will be published on November 10. The memoir is expected to explore her marriage into India’s influential Nehru Gandhi family, the personal tragedies that shaped her life and her eventual entry into public life.

Gandhi, 79, was born in Italy and was studying in Cambridge, England, when she met Rajiv Gandhi. He was the grandson of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Her life changed dramatically after Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. Rajiv Gandhi subsequently became prime minister, but his tenure was cut short when he was assassinated in 1991.

The memoir describes how grief and personal loss eventually pushed Gandhi into the political arena, despite her longstanding desire to maintain a private life.

“Belonging” will also recount her years as the wife of Rajiv Gandhi and daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi, while reflecting on the social and political changes she witnessed during her decades in India.

Gandhi later became a prominent figure in the Congress party and served as its longest-serving president. Despite leading the party through several political battles, she declined an offer to become prime minister after the Congress-led alliance won the 2004 general election. Manmohan Singh subsequently became prime minister.

Congress was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in the 2014 general election, with Narendra Modi becoming prime minister.

In a statement released by Knopf, Gandhi said writing about her life was difficult because it required her to revisit experiences she had kept private for years. She described the book as an attempt to present a more human perspective on her family and the events that shaped their lives.

She said the memoir would also look at her childhood in Italy and her transformation after moving to India, where she spent decades navigating family responsibilities, personal bereavement and public life.

The Nehru-Gandhi family continues to play a major role in Indian politics. Gandhi’s children, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, are Congress leaders and members of the Lok Sabha.

Through the memoir, Gandhi is expected to provide readers with a personal perspective on a political family that has remained central to India’s modern history, while examining the relationships and experiences that influenced her own journey.