India

Sonia Gandhi Reflects on Love and Duty in New Memoir

By Sonia Gandhi

Sonia Gandhi said that for most of her life she kept her inner world private, even after grief led her into politics. She explained that only after stepping back from public life did she see her own story clearly, noting that love and the loyalty that grows from it ran through all of it. She recalled meeting a young Indian student in England at age 19, which led her to a new country, a new family, a deep bond with her mother‑in‑law, and the years of raising children. She also described the unbearable losses of her mother‑in‑law and later her husband to violence, but said that her love for her husband and for India sustained her. Gandhi said the book is personal, not political, and that she wanted to portray her family honestly, showing their motivations, struggles and human flaws. She also hoped to share what she witnessed over more than five decades in India, a country she watched transform from the margins to its centre. The book is the account of that journey and the place she came to call home. The writer is a senior politician and the longest‑serving president of the Indian National Congress. Published – November 07, 2026 06:00 am IST