“Belonging”:  Is It Sonia Gandhi’s Pitch To Lead UPA III?

As her memoir, Belonging: A Journey Of Love was made available at various bookstores across India, Sonia Gandhi recalled how she and her husband former PM Rajiv Gandhi had agreed not to respond to all that was written about them. “A long time ago Rajiv and I realised that there was no point in trying to keep up with all that had been written about us. But, as I say in the book, there came a time when I felt that I should tell my own story.” The memoir traces Sonia’s life journey, from her childhood in post-war Italy and her romance with Rajiv, to her life in India and the personal losses that shaped her bond with her adopted country.  Is the book all about Sonia revisiting her relationship with Rajiv during their time in Cambridge, and the assassinations of her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and her husband whom she married in 1968? Congress analysts who initially wondered why she thought of writing a memoir at this stage, are now convinced that the ageing leader (80 yr) was perhaps positioning herself to lead the Opposition again post 2029.  Maybe for a UPA III? Party sources say one thing is certain that Sonia now seems no longer interested in relaunching her son Rahul for the nth time. It is also being said she will never hand over the baton to daughter Priyanka. The bitterness with which she has attacked sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi makes it clear she will block Varun’s entry into the Congress. The book has glossed over a number of personal questions and there are a number of inaccuracies. The book got the year of Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel’s death (2020) wrong. It is mentioned as 2022! Now it looks like Sonia’s references to PM Modi were aimed only as a sales pitch!