‘There’s bound to be some tamasha’: Sonia Gandhi on her memoir, says ‘now it’s my turn’

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said her forthcoming memoir, Belonging — A Journey of Love, would give her an opportunity to tell her own story after decades of others writing about her.

“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,” Sonia Gandhi wrote on X while sharing a video.

The Congress leader said her decision to write a memoir stemmed from years of what she described as inaccurate portrayals of her life, while also recalling her initial opposition to her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, taking over the country's top post.

“I don't know if i should tell the whole story? When then my husband, you know, was asked to become prime minister, which i was totally against. 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.”

She added that readers could form different opinions of her after reading the book. “Or let us say my... not version, i wouldn't say version, but my story. People have different views. Some people may change their view about me. Some people's view may become worse, but that's what it is. That's what happens when you write a book, or when you are in public life.”

Sonia Gandhi made her debut on X on October 24, sharing a video that offered a glimpse of her upcoming memoir, a 544-page book scheduled for release on November 10, 2026. Alfred A. Knopf will publish the US edition, while HarperCollins India will publish the Indian edition.

According to the publisher, the memoir traces her childhood in Italy, her first meeting with Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge in 1965, her move to India, the assassinations of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and her eventual entry into politics. It also revisits her decision to decline the prime minister's post after the Congress-led alliance's victory in the 2004 general election.

While unveiling the first copies, Sonia Gandhi leafed through the book alongside her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and remarked on the large number of photographs it contains. The release of the memoir follows her recent foray into social media, with her joining Instagram on October 22 and X two days later.