Sonia Gandhi Memoir: A Personal Account of India's Most Public Political Dynasty

From two assassinations to the “inner voice” that stopped her becoming PM, the book is set to explain her choices.

Sonia Gandhi's Memoir "Belonging: A Journey of Love" was recently embroiled in controversy over allegations of censorship.

(Photo: The Quint)

Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, is scheduled for release on 10 November. It has already created the kind of buzz that few books manage to generate even before they hit the shelves. The book is certain to sell many more copies than its initial print run.

The first time Sonia Gandhi spoke of writing a book was in response to one that Natwar Singh had written, in which he was, in her view, unfairly critical of her. Asked for her response, she said, “You will have to wait for my book. Perhaps it’s time for me to put down my version.”

That was years ago. Since then, a great deal has happened. Sonia Gandhi has consciously taken a back seat, keeping herself away from the day-to-day affairs of the party. Her memoir, therefore, comes at a particularly interesting juncture.

It offers her an opportunity to tell her story, in her own words, and perhaps provide a glimpse into the mind of a woman whose life has been inextricably intertwined with the political fortunes of the Congress party and the country.

First Family, Family First

Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi first met at a Greek restaurant in Cambridge. Two years later, she came to India and married the love of her life. Upon her arrival in Delhi, and until her marriage, she stayed at Teji Bachchan’s house in Gulmohar Park.

In a lecture delivered at the Nexus Institute in The Hague, she described how “not even in my wildest dreams could I have imagined then the course my destiny would take.”

The life the young couple led was essentially private, one that brought them great joy and fulfilment. They were deeply in love, and their relationship remained at the centre of Sonia’s world even as Rajiv’s public responsibilities grew. In all the years they spent together, they never spent more than ten days apart. That detail says much about the closeness they shared and the life they had built around each other.

Living in the Prime Minister’s house, in a political family, however, came with its own challenges. For someone who was intensely private, Sonia Gandhi had to get used to the unrelenting public gaze. Her world revolved around her husband, her two children and Indira Gandhi. It was a world that was soon to be devastated by a series of tragedies.

In 1980, her brother-in-law Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash. Indira Gandhi leaned on her elder son Rajiv for support. According to Sonia, her husband was torn between protecting the life they had chosen and stepping forward to his mother’s side when she needed him the most. She confessed that it took her months before she could bring herself to support his decision to join politics. In 1981, Rajiv Gandhi was elected to Parliament.

Four years later, in October 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards. The tragedy not only shook the nation but also altered the destiny of the family. The Congress party asked Rajiv Gandhi to take over as Prime Minister. Initially, Sonia fought hard to dissuade him, but eventually accepted his decision.

“The life we had chosen was irrevocably over,” she said.

Taking the Reins

Rajiv Gandhi remained Prime Minister for five years. But on May 21, 1991, her worst fears came true. He was assassinated on the campaign trail.

The moment I had been dreading all along came true.

Sonia Gandhi

The Congress party asked Sonia Gandhi to take up its leadership, but she declined, “instinctively recoiling from a political milieu that had so devastated my life and that of my children.”

One can perhaps understand her reluctance. Politics had already taken an enormous toll on her family. Having lost her mother-in-law and husband to assassinations, she was understandably unwilling to expose herself and her children to yet another uncertain and often unforgiving world.

Sonia Gandhi watched with dismay as the fortunes of the Congress party dwindled. It lost the 1996 election, and soon she came under increasing pressure from the party to step in and take charge. She finally gave in and became Congress President on 14 March 1998. She would go on to serve for 17 years, becoming the longest-serving president in the party’s history.

Her elevation, however, did not meet with instant success. In 1999, months before the general election, a section of the party rebelled over her foreign origins and formed the Nationalist Congress Party. In the elections that followed, the Congress managed to win only 114 seats.

Though a newcomer to politics, it did not take her long to realise that the Congress could no longer go it alone. It needed to forge a broad-based alliance of secular parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She played a pivotal role in the formation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Working with a single-minded purpose, she set aside her differences with the likes of Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh Yadav, the DMK and Ram Vilas Paswan, persuading them to join the alliance.

The move proved to be an instant success. The UPA surprised pollsters, the media and its opponents by winning the elections and went on to form the government, with Dr Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, for the next ten years.

Inner Workings

There are moments that change the course of contemporary politics. One such defining moment came in May 2004. The Congress-led alliance had just scored an astonishing victory in the Lok Sabha elections, defeating the seemingly invincible Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP. All eyes were on one person: Sonia Gandhi, widely expected to become the next Prime Minister.

Yes, the same Sonia Gandhi who had been relentlessly targeted by the BJP over her foreign origins. But just as it appeared almost certain that Mrs Gandhi would lead the alliance, there was a sudden twist in the tale. Sonia Gandhi decided that her “inner voice” would not allow her to become Prime Minister.

Instead, she chose the academic-turned-politician Dr Manmohan Singh for the post. The Congress cadres and MPs protested, but Sonia stuck to her guns. The rest, as they say, is history.

Her memoir will undoubtedly throw light on the thought process behind some of the decisions she took as Congress President. Having observed her functioning from the time she made her entry into politics, there are a few things that have always stood out for me.

The first is the remarkable grace she has exhibited at all times. The second is her ability to put aside personal differences and political disagreements in order to achieve a larger goal. I remember her driving to Sharad Pawar’s residence to persuade him to join the UPA. It was a gesture that spoke volumes about her willingness to reach out, even to those with whom she had differences.

Another example of her generosity was related to me by none other than PA Sangma himself. His daughter Agatha Sangma had become an MP in 2004 and was among those being considered for a ministerial berth. He took her to meet Sonia Gandhi. No sooner had he broached the subject than Sonia disarmed him.

“I have absolutely no problem with her becoming a minister, if the Prime Minister so desires.” Agatha was subsequently inducted into the Union Cabinet as a Minister of State.

Resilient Growth

Her biggest contribution, however, has been to keep the Congress party together. She took over as its president on 14 March 1998, at a time when people were leaving the party in droves. Look at the journey she has made, the distance she has covered and the obstacles she has had to surmount.

She was, by her own admission, a reluctant politician. She disliked politics, was not entirely comfortable with the language, and was never particularly at ease with the rough and tumble of political life. The political culture of this country is very different from the one she had grown up in. And yet, she managed to overcome all of it.

One of the things that I have always found remarkable about Sonia Gandhi is her willingness to acknowledge her shortcomings and work hard to overcome them. She had a mortal fear of public speaking. This was something she worked on painstakingly. Every time she had to deliver a speech, she would spend weeks preparing. There would be drafts and counter-drafts, with constant chopping and changing until the very last moment.

I remember very clearly her first major public speech, apart from the Emergency-related address. It was at a campaign rally for Sheila Dikshit during the Delhi elections. She was travelling from the Delhi airport in a car, with Rahul and Priyanka flanking her. By the time they reached the India Gate roundabout, she had a panic attack. She became extremely nervous and told them, “Look, I can’t do this. Let’s turn back.”

They tried to reassure her. “Calm down. You have worked very hard at this. You can do it.” For nearly 10 to 15 minutes, the cavalcade kept going round and round the roundabout, leaving people wondering what was happening. Eventually, she went to the rally and delivered her speech.

Between the Lines

I often try to imagine what it would be like if I were asked to work in Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Meghalaya, where the language, culture, and political terrain are so different. I would probably have a nervous breakdown. Sonia Gandhi, however, managed to surmount all these challenges.

In 2004, she was instrumental in bringing the Congress back to power. In 2014, when she returned to take charge of the party after its electoral debacle, the Congress was in shambles. The contrast between the two moments was striking. But then, her political journey has been anything but ordinary.

If there is one way I would describe Sonia Gandhi, it is as a lady of immense grace. I have rarely come across a politician who has displayed such dignity, restraint and generosity, even in the face of relentless criticism. She may not have been a politician by choice, but she came to acquire a stature that few in contemporary Indian politics can match.

Her memoir will, of course, tell us more about the woman behind the public persona. It may also help us understand some of the choices she made, the dilemmas she confronted and the personal cost of a life lived in the public domain.

For someone who had once dreamt of nothing more than a quiet life with the man she loved, Sonia Gandhi’s journey has been extraordinary. And perhaps that is what makes her story so compelling.

A life she never chose. A destiny she never imagined. And a journey marked, above all, by grace.

(The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached @javedmansari . This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)