New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi joined Instagram on Thursday, sharing a video offering a first look at her upcoming memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’.
In her first Instagram post, the former Congress president expressed gratitude as she introduced the book, describing it as a story of love, duty, loss, and finding a place to belong.
“Hello everyone, I’m truly grateful to share this moment with you all; the first look of Belonging: A Journey of Love,” she wrote in the caption.
“It is a story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong. I look forward to sharing it with you,” she added.
The video shows Sonia Gandhi receiving the first copies of the memoir and sharing sweets with her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She also points out that the book contains many photographs.
The memoir traces Gandhi’s journey from her childhood in post-war Italy to her life in India, including her relationship with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the personal losses that shaped her life and her relationship with her adopted country.
Born in Italy, Sonia Gandhi was a 19-year-old student in Cambridge, England, when she met Rajiv Gandhi in 1965. The couple married on February 25, 1968.
The book revisits her childhood in Veneto, Italy, and her time in Cambridge, where she met Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister. It recounts her marriage, her introduction to her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and her efforts to adapt to life in India, including learning Hindi, wearing saris, and adjusting to Indian food and culture.
The memoir also covers major tragedies in the Gandhi family, including the death of Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash, Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, and Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.
It further examines political developments surrounding the Congress-led alliance’s victory in the 2004 general election, when Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister and instead led the party and its alliance, which governed India for a decade.
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Memoir to be published in India on November 10
Publisher HarperCollins India announced last month that it would publish ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ in India on November 10, ending uncertainty over the book’s domestic release following an impasse between the author’s representatives and Penguin Random House India (PRHI).
On August 18, publisher Alfred A Knopf had announced that the memoir would be published on November 10. Alfred A Knopf is an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG.
HarperCollins India described the memoir as “one of the most anticipated political memoirs of our time”, calling it a dramatic and deeply personal account of love, identity, duty and belonging that offers an insider’s view of India’s journey.
The announcement followed a controversy involving Penguin Random House India, which had initially been keen to publish the memoir but later said it would not serve as the Indian publisher.
The controversy emerged amid reports of differences between the publisher and the author’s representatives over editorial changes to the manuscript. Several Congress leaders raised concerns about alleged government pressure and freedom of expression. Some alleged that pressure had been exerted on Penguin India to remove sections relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and China’s occupation of Indian territory during the Modi government.
In a statement to PTI, Penguin Random House India said it had been “really keen” to publish the book, describing it as a “hard-won acquisition”, but ultimately decided to step away because of a stalemate over a particular issue.
The publisher denied that there had been any external pressure but declined to disclose the precise nature of the impasse, citing confidentiality clauses and its agreement with the author.
Rahul Gandhi expresses pride in his mother
Recently, on the 82nd birth anniversary of his father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (LoP) Rahul Gandhi expressed excitement about his mother’s memoir.
“I am happy, and so proud, that your story 'Belonging: A Journey of Love ' will finally be read by the millions of people who love you. I know how hard it was for someone as private as you to tell the world your beautiful story. Today, on his birthday, I can see Papa smiling and looking down proudly at his beautiful Sonia,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Sonia Gandhi, 79, is the Congress party’s longest-serving president.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
