Politics · India · 42 mins ago
Sonia Gandhi’s memoir traces grief and a rise in Indian politics
Sonia Gandhi’s new memoir, *Belonging: A Journey of Love*, describes how family tragedy shaped her life in India.
Her mother-in-law, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in Delhi in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards, after the army had stormed the Golden Temple earlier that year.
Sonia feared her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, would also be killed when party leaders asked him to become prime minister, but he took office that evening.
Rajiv was assassinated in 1991, and Sonia later wrote that grief made public appearances difficult.
She initially stayed away from politics, which she associated with ambition and betrayal, but Congress was losing support and senior members were leaving.
Sonia eventually led the Congress party through two general election victories, becoming one of India's most consequential political figures.
The memoir offers her account of the losses and political pressures behind that journey.
Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, recounts personal grief alongside her path into Indian politics.
It describes her fear after her mother-in-law, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated in 1984.
Sonia Gandhi recalls pleading with her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, not to become prime minister because she feared he would also be killed.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, and Sonia later describes retreating from public life as she grieved.
She eventually led the Congress party through two general election victories.
- Who
- Sonia Gandhi, former Congress party leader and author of the memoir.
- What
- Her memoir recounts grief, family life and her rise in Indian politics.
- When
- The article was published on 11 November 2026; it discusses events from 1984 onward.
- Where
- The events described include Delhi and India.
- Why
- The memoir reflects on personal loss and the pressures that drew Sonia Gandhi into public life.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in Delhi.
Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated.
Sonia Gandhi and her children were overcome with grief at Rahul Gandhi’s Cambridge graduation.
- Memoir
- Belonging: A Journey of Love
- Indira Gandhi’s assassination
- 31 October 1984, Delhi
- Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination
- 1991
- Rahul Gandhi’s graduation
- Cambridge, 1995
- Congress party victories under Sonia Gandhi
- Two general elections
What people are saying
They will kill you; they will kill you, too!
I'd always disliked politics,
a presence within me rather than a piercing absence
ambition and greed, hypocrisy and treachery