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Autobiography based on the life journey of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, one of the most influential faces of Indian politics. ‘Belonging’ Ready for publication on 10th November. Even before the arrival of this book, murmurs have intensified in the political circles. This 544-page memoir book is published by the well-known publisher ‘Alfred A. Knopf’, a division of Penguin Random House. In this book, very touching and interesting stories of Sonia Gandhi’s politics, her personal life, deep struggles and her journey from Italy to India have been told.
The love story started from the streets of Cambridge
According to the official information of Penguin Random House, this book begins in the city of Cambridge, England, where in the year 1965, 19-year-old student Sonia Maino met the grandson of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and they fell in love at first sight. The book also mentions his first meeting with his influential mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. It also tells how while living with Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia gradually gained self-confidence, learned to speak Hindi, started adopting Indian sarees and assimilated Indian culture and food.
Great tragedies and ups and downs of political journey
Along with happiness, Sonia Gandhi’s life has also gone through many big and unbearable tragedies. This memoir also mentions those dark chapters of his life, when Rajiv Gandhi’s brother Sanjay Gandhi died untimely in a plane crash and Indira Gandhi was brutally assassinated in the year 1984. After the murder of his mother-in-law and despite his own deep fear, considering the political situation in the country, Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of the country. However, exactly seven years later, Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated in a suicide attack during the election campaign. After facing all these sorrows, Sonia Gandhi resisted the pressure to enter politics for a long time, but later due to circumstances, she took charge of the Indian National Congress and remained the president of the party for the longest period.
Historic decision of rejecting the post of Prime Minister in 2004
One of the biggest and most discussed chapters of the book and his political life is from the year 2004. After the Lok Sabha elections, Congress formed the UPA alliance with 14 allies, which got the support of many other parties including the Left and got the support of 335 MPs in the Parliament. All her colleagues wanted Sonia Gandhi to become the Prime Minister of the country, but on May 18, 2004, she took a ‘surprising decision’ to step down from the post.
Amidst the political deadlock and the issue of his foreign origin being raised by the opposition party NDA, he rejected the post of Prime Minister and instead made a historic proposal to make Dr. Manmohan Singh the Prime Minister of the country. However, it has always been a common discussion in political circles that behind the scenes, the main reins and guidelines of the government remain in the hands of Sonia Gandhi.
Unique document of six decades of India’s history
The publishers also say that this book is not just the story of Sonia Gandhi’s personal life, but it also provides a unique and clear view of post-independence India’s political history, social changes and the economic and ideological ups and downs the country has gone through in the last 60 years.