Sonia Gandhi makes Instagram debut, shares first look of her upcoming book

• Sonia Gandhi makes her Instagram debut, sharing a first look at her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, which explores love, duty, loss and identity

• HarperCollins India will publish the book on 10 November after a dispute with Penguin Random House India over the manuscript

• The memoir traces Gandhi’s journey from Italy to India, covering family tragedies, her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi and her political role after the 2004 elections

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi made her Instagram debut on Thursday, sharing a first look at her upcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love. Describing the book as a deeply personal account of her life, Gandhi said it explores “love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong”.

In her first Instagram post, the former Congress president shared a video showing her receiving the initial copies of the book. The clip also features her daughter, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, with whom she shares sweets to mark the occasion.

“Hello everyone, I'm truly grateful to share this moment with you all; the first look of Belonging: A Journey of Love,” Gandhi wrote.

“It is a story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong. I look forward to sharing it with you,” she added.

In the video, Gandhi also points out that the memoir contains numerous photographs, offering readers a visual glimpse into her personal life and journey.

The memoir is scheduled to be published in India by HarperCollins India on 10 November, following an earlier dispute that left its domestic publication uncertain.

Last month, HarperCollins announced that it had secured the rights to publish the book, describing it as one of the most anticipated political memoirs of recent times.

“Belonging is a dramatic and deeply personal story of love, identity, duty and belonging, and offers a rare insider's view of India's journey,” the publisher said in a statement.

The announcement followed an impasse between Gandhi's representatives and Penguin Random House India (PRHI), which had initially been expected to publish the memoir in the country.

The dispute attracted attention amid reports of disagreements over proposed editorial changes to the manuscript. Several Congress leaders raised concerns about possible governmental pressure and freedom of expression, with some alleging that there had been pressure on Penguin India to remove passages concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and China's occupation of Indian territory during the Modi government.

Penguin Random House India subsequently clarified that it had been keen to publish the memoir, describing it as a “hard-won acquisition”, but decided to withdraw after negotiations reached a stalemate over a particular issue.

The publisher denied that any external pressure had influenced its decision. However, it declined to disclose the precise nature of the disagreement, citing confidentiality obligations and its agreement with the author.

HarperCollins India's announcement brought an end to the uncertainty surrounding the memoir's publication in India.

Belonging: A Journey of Love traces Gandhi's life from her childhood in the Veneto region of post-war Italy to her eventual place at the centre of Indian public life.

The memoir recounts her move to Cambridge, where she met Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1965. It explores their relationship and marriage, as well as her introduction to her mother-in-law, former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

The book also examines Gandhi's efforts to adapt to life in India, including learning Hindi, wearing saris and familiarising herself with Indian food, customs and culture.

Beyond her personal experiences, the memoir recounts several tragedies that profoundly affected the Gandhi family. These include the death of Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash, the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

These events form a significant part of the narrative, charting the personal losses that shaped Gandhi's life and her eventual entry into the political arena.

The memoir also explores Gandhi's role in Indian politics, particularly following the Congress-led alliance's victory in the 2004 general election.

Despite leading the Congress party and its alliance to victory, Gandhi declined to become prime minister, choosing instead to lead the party and the coalition government from outside the prime ministerial office.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance subsequently governed India for a decade, from 2004 to 2014.

Through these personal and political episodes, the memoir offers an account of Gandhi's transition from an Italian-born young woman adjusting to life in India to one of the country's most influential political figures.

Her Instagram debut and the release of the book's first copies offer a glimpse into a memoir that combines family history, personal loss, cultural adaptation and decades of involvement in Indian politics.

With PTI inputs