New Delhi: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has said her upcoming memoir may cause a “tamasha” or big debate. She said the book will let her tell her own story after years of others writing about her. She also hinted that it contains personal details she has not spoken about publicly before.
Gandhi made the remarks in a short video on X, her second post since joining the platform last week. The video promotes Belonging: A Journey of Love, a 544-page memoir that HarperCollins India will publish in India on November 10.
“There’s bound to be some tamasha when this book comes out. After all, others have spent decades telling my ‘story’, now it’s my turn,” Gandhi said in her post.
What Sonia Said About Rajiv
In the 1-minute-28-second video, Gandhi is seen turning the pages of the book and thinking about whether to share everything. “I don’t know if I should tell the whole story,” she says.
She then speaks about Rajiv Gandhi becoming Prime Minister after Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. “When my husband was asked to become the prime minister, which I was totally against…,” she says, but does not finish the sentence.
Her words suggest the memoir may explain why she did not want Rajiv Gandhi to enter politics at that time. It may also give readers a personal view of the shock and pressure the family faced after Indira Gandhi’s death, as reported by The News Indian Express.
Why She wrote The Book
Gandhi said she wrote the book because many things written about her were wrong or exaggerated. “Well, I felt that since a lot had been written about me, and a lot of it was not quite correct, or you know, it was either invented or exaggerated. So, it gave me a feel of being able to now put down my story and describe facts and things as they were—as they really were. Or let us say my, not version, I wouldn’t say version, but my story,” she said.
She said some people may see her differently after reading it. “People have different views, some people may change their view about me. Some people’s view may become worse but that is what it is, that is what happens when you write a book, or when you are in public life. There is bound to be a ‘tamasha’ as you say it here,” Gandhi said.
The book covers her life in Italy, meeting Rajiv Gandhi at Cambridge in 1965, moving to India, and the deaths of Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It also talks about the 2004 election win, when she chose to remain Congress chief instead of becoming Prime Minister.