Sonia Gandhi's Memoir 'Belonging' Details Political Journey and Inner Turmoil

In July 2003, Sonia Gandhi presided over a Congress brainstorming session in Shimla. The meeting was called to prepare for the Lok Sabha elections the following year. The atmosphere was filled with enthusiasm and open discussion. The party leadership was beginning to realize the necessity of forming alliances with regional parties to oust the BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Meanwhile, Sonia learned that some senior party leaders were discussing who should lead Congress in the elections. She was surprised to learn this. She had been Congress President for five years. She had traveled across the country, campaigned in elections, and led the opposition. She had also tried to rebuild the party, which was struggling with defections and consistently deteriorating electoral performance. Despite all this, some people within Congress still doubted whether she was the right person to lead the party in the parliamentary elections. Sonia wrote in her book ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, published by HCI on November 10, that this hurt her. Political opponents questioned her Indian identity, and she had become accustomed to it. But it was a completely different matter for doubts to arise in the minds of her own colleagues. Sonia reacted immediately. This is also clear from this excerpt from ‘Belonging’: ‘I called my aides and sent a message to that group of senior leaders. As Congress President, it was my duty to lead the election campaign, and I had no intention of doing anything different. When I finally reached the hall and the political resolution was read out in front of everyone, the situation was clear. I will lead the party, and we will be ready to form alliances to defeat the BJP.’ This incident is one of the most significant parts of her memoir. It challenges the familiar image of Sonia Gandhi, in which she is seen as a woman who reluctantly entered politics and was indifferent to power. Her hesitation to enter politics was real. But her determination to exercise the authority that came with her position was equally strong. The woman who did not want to enter politics was not prepared to tolerate being sidelined after accepting its responsibilities. This paradox is evident throughout ‘Belonging’. The greatest achievement of this book is to tell how a woman who was very cautious about her personal life became a strong political strategist. However, Sonia speaks openly about her feelings, although she often doesn't say much about the consequences of her political decisions. This can be considered the limitation of this book. Sonia Gandhi's Story of Becoming a Politician Sonia's political journey is often told as a story of long-standing hesitation. After Sanjay Gandhi's death in 1980, she opposed Rajiv Gandhi entering politics. Even after Rajiv's assassination in 1991, she repeatedly refused offers to take on political roles. But not wanting to hold a position certainly did not mean she was not interested in politics. The politician within Sonia began to take shape long before she formally joined Congress. While with Indira Gandhi, during her travels with Rajiv, and witnessing controversies related to the Emergency, Bofors, and Ayodhya, she absorbed the language of Indian politics, its nuances, and its contradictions. This process was slow and almost unnoticed. But looking back, it can be clearly identified. In 1997, when the pressure on Sonia to take over the leadership of Congress increased, she took refuge in the Bhagavad Gita. Sanskrit scholar Vachaspati Upadhyay helped her understand its philosophical meaning. The idea of fulfilling one's duty without worrying about the fruits became a way to balance her inner personal doubts and political responsibilities. But what happened after that cannot be understood merely as a duty. In reporting many ups and downs of Congress, I often found Sonia's political acumen to be sharper than her public image. She learned to listen to people, verify different claims, identify reliable friends, and stand her ground when necessary. The Shimla incident shows that by then she had established her footing in politics. The events of March 1998, when Sonia Gandhi became Congress President in place of Sitaram Kesari, are another important example. However, it is described very briefly in the memoir. Sonia wrote that the Congress Working Committee deemed the change necessary, asked Kesari to step down, and then she went to his house. There, she touched Kesari's feet and took his blessings. It was an emotional gesture. But it hardly answers the circumstances under which Kesari was removed. This incident is widely seen as a disrespectful 'coup' within the party. The elected president of the party was removed through a controversial intervention by the Congress Working Committee. How much did Sonia know about this entire conspiracy? Did she approve of this method? The memoir does not provide satisfactory answers to these questions. The 'Outsider' Woman Who Was Unwilling to Back Down For Sonia, the Shimla incident probably brought back the memory of an earlier rebellion that had hurt her deeply. On May 15, 1999, a Congress Working Committee meeting was held in Delhi. The question of whether Sonia's foreign origin could be a detriment to the party in the general elections was raised by PA Sangma. Sharad Pawar praised Sonia's contribution to uniting the party. However, he also expressed the opinion that Congress had failed to counter the BJP's campaign regarding her birth in Italy. Tariq Anwar also joined this dissent. RK Dhawan angrily accused the dissenting leaders of advancing the agenda of the BJP and RSS. Sonia stood up and walked out of the meeting. Following this, she proposed to resign. She wrote that despite being born abroad, she had chosen India as her home. This rebellion failed. Later, Pawar, Sangma, and Anwar together formed the Nationalist Congress Party. Four years later, the same insecurity surfaced in Shimla. Sonia wrote that perhaps her colleagues considered her a detriment to the party in elections. Her words reveal a lot: ‘I was hurt thinking they still considered me an outsider.’ The controversy over foreign origin is one of the most effective parts of the memoir. Because it conveys a sense of hurt that even political success could not fully heal. Sonia's account also shows how insecurity can turn into strong determination. She did not want the questions about her origin to overshadow her claim to leadership. Not accepting the Prime Minister's post in 2004 completes this paradox. The apprehensions of Rahul and Priyanka also influenced this decision. Both had already lost their grandmother and father to assassination. Despite this, Sonia remained the undisputed center of power in Congress, and her role in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) arrangement was very significant. Did Sonia ever fear her own death, which her children were so apprehensive about? In an interview with ‘The New York Times’ this week, Sonia said, ‘Perhaps somewhere in my mind, I didn't care if something really happened.’ Where Does the Memoir Draw Its Limits? The book becomes most emotional when Sonia recalls the assassinations of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. The emotions of that time are as vivid in her memories as are seen in very few political autobiographies. Sonia writes about her state after Rajiv's assassination: ‘The days seemed endless, and the nights even longer. Even if the effect of strong medicines put me to sleep, I would wake up from a terrible nightmare. My body would be drenched in sweat, my heart would feel like it was in my throat, and I would be scared and lost. Priyanka constantly took care of me. Sometimes she would give me medicine, and sometimes she would just watch over me. Even at night, she would wake up many times to check on me.’ Her discussion of the anti-Sikh pogrom following Indira Gandhi's assassination in October 1984 is more complex. Sonia condemns these killings, acknowledges the failure of governance. She also believes that some officials perhaps deliberately turned a blind eye or incited people's emotions. She also admits that it took a long time for the victims to get justice. However, she defends Rajiv with full conviction, stating that he could never have allowed such atrocities. She recalls Rajiv's appeals for peace and explains the delay in deploying the army. This information is important. But it does not adequately examine many difficult questions. What was the responsibility of the political leadership when the mob was killing Sikhs in the capital? What happened to the Congress leaders accused of involvement? What about the party's failure to establish accountability for decades? Similar complexities are seen in Sonia's discussion of Rajiv's decisions regarding Shah Bano and the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Sonia writes that she questioned Rajiv about the weakening of Muslim women's rights. However, she largely accepts Rajiv's explanation that he was trying to balance conflicting claims related to the constitution and religion. She clearly and unconditionally condemns the demolition of the Babri Masjid. However, Congress's own contradictory stance on Ayodhya needed deeper examination. This includes the opening of the locks in 1986, the foundation stone laying in 1989, and Narasimha Rao's reaction in 1992. The Party's Decline and a Leader's Legacy A significant achievement of this book is that it provides an account of Congress's political difficulties and the rise of the BJP. Sonia had realized that Congress could no longer defeat the BJP solely on the strength of its organization. She prepared the party to shed its hesitation towards alliances. This decision laid the foundation for the formation of the UPA, which came to power in 2004. Here, the memoir presents the image of a pragmatic strategist rather than a leader guarding inherited political ideologies. However, the direction the party took thereafter raises questions about Sonia's leadership. How did a party that ruled India for ten years shrink to just 44 seats in the Lok Sabha in 2014? Why did its organizational foundation weaken so quickly? Sonia mentions the BJP's strong electoral machinery, Narendra Modi's oratory skills, social media campaigns, and the continuous allegations of corruption against UPA-2. She admits that voters were ready for change. However, her explanation emphasizes the BJP's strength and the campaign against Congress more than Congress's own leadership, organization, and political dialogue weaknesses. This is what makes ‘Belonging’ different from ordinary political memoirs. For example, Lalkrishna Advani's ‘My Country, My Life’ is primarily a political history. It views the author and the project associated with his ideology in conjunction with the development of the BJP. Sonia presents a different kind of book. It is a personal account, where politics enters through the path of family, relationships, grief, and responsibility. This personal touch gives the memoir literary and emotional appeal. But it also limits its significance as a broader political evaluation. After observing Congress for decades, I believe Sonia's most significant achievement was not just bringing the party back to power in 2004. She showed that forming alliances, bringing together different political factions, and exercising restraint could still be an alternative to majoritarian polarization. However, her legacy must also include this failure – she failed to reshape the party's organization in a way that could later withstand the growing dominance of the BJP. ‘Belonging’ begins with these lines from the Rigveda, ‘Let us walk together, let us speak together, may our minds be in accord...’ These lines hold a deep irony. This call, also familiar in the tradition of the Sangh, speaks of a common purpose. It is an unexpectedly apt prelude to the story of a leader who spent a large part of her political life trying to keep a divided party united. Therefore, this book is not only important because of what Sonia has brought forward. It also reveals a lot because of the questions it leaves unanswered. She writes openly about her insecurities, defends her closest people with full conviction. And she seems less willing to reconsider those decisions whose consequences continue to plague Congress even today. For Sonia Gandhi, this journey of making a place her own was personal, which eventually became her political duty. The challenge before Congress now is not just to remain united. It must again find a concrete reason to convince the country why people should trust it. This unfinished task is as much a part of Sonia's legacy as the extraordinary life whose story she has written in this book. (Published on behalf of Collective Newsroom for BBC)