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Why it matters
A memoir by the Congress's longest-serving president is a political event as much as a book. Her account of 1991, 1998 and 2004 is her own version of turning points that are still argued over, and her remarks on the BJP are her own political claims.
The Sonia Gandhi memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, comes out on 10 November 2026 from HarperCollins India. Three days before the launch, on the morning of 7 November, The Hindu published a long written interview with her, an essay by her and an excerpt from the book. In the interview with The Hindu’s N. Ram, she said: “Over the last twelve years great damage has been done to the fabric of our country, our democracy and our institutions.”
The Sonia Gandhi interview covers personal, historical and political questions, The Hindu said. That line is her claim about the BJP-led government, and it is reported here as her view. The reports read for this article did not carry a response from the BJP.
Sonia Gandhi interview: what she said about the BJP and the RSS
Sonia Gandhi answered N. Ram’s questions in writing, The Hindu said. Asked whether politics would return to a contest over policies if the BJP lost the 2029 Lok Sabha election, she wrote that it “will take time to restore our systems back to health” even after the present government goes. She added: “People are now beginning to be restless and recognising the damage. But I am optimistic and I know that the people of India will welcome a return to proper governance.”
On the Congress and Hindutva politics, she said some people inside the party had felt it should not be “so black and white on the issue of secularism”, but that this was not the party’s view. She also wrote: “we never made any compromises with the BJP and the RSS and we never will.” The RSS is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
These are the opinions of a senior opposition leader promoting her own book. They are not findings of fact, and NewsPlainly has not tested them.
What she said about the Emergency and 2004
The Sonia Gandhi interview also went back to two moments from the party’s past. On the Emergency of 1975 to 1977, she wrote: “The Emergency I lived through and opposed was, indisputably, a dark chapter in the history of independent India.” In the same answer she said that democratic rights had been curtailed “but it was done constitutionally”, and that Indira Gandhi herself later called the March 1977 election and expressed regret.
On 2004, when the Congress-led alliance won and she did not become Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh took the job instead. Asked whether government policy might have been different had she taken it, she replied: “No, not at all. That has never crossed my mind.” She said the two worked as a team, with him leading the government and her leading the party.
“This is not a political book,” she says
In her own essay in The Hindu, Sonia Gandhi described the Sonia Gandhi memoir as personal first. “This is not a political book. It is a personal one,” she wrote. She said the story began in England, where “a 19-year-old woman from a small Italian town met a young Indian student”, and that she wanted to portray the Gandhi family “honestly, as people I knew and loved”.
The New Indian Express, reporting on glimpses the publisher shared on 6 November, said the Sonia Gandhi book covers her early years in the family, including learning to cook and eat Indian food and to wear a sari, as well as Sanjay Gandhi’s death in a plane crash, Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991.
The excerpt The Hindu printed is about the years after Rajiv Gandhi’s death. In it she writes about the pressure on her to take over the party, and about becoming a primary member of the Congress in 1997, when Congress President Sitaram Kesri invited her to the party’s 80th plenary session in Calcutta.
Timeline: the milestones the Sonia Gandhi memoir covers
NewsPlainly put this list together from what The Hindu and The New Indian Express say the Sonia Gandhi book covers. Dates are as those reports give them.
| Year | Milestone, as reported | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 to 1977 | The Emergency, which she says she “lived through and opposed” | The Hindu interview |
| Year not given | Sanjay Gandhi’s death in a plane crash | The New Indian Express |
| 1984 | Indira Gandhi’s assassination | The New Indian Express |
| 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination | The New Indian Express |
| 1997 | Becomes a primary member of the Congress at the Calcutta plenary | Book excerpt in The Hindu |
| 1998 | Accepts the office of Congress President | The Hindu interview |
| 1999 | Stays on as president after a challenge by some colleagues | The Hindu interview |
| 2004 | Declines to become Prime Minister after the Congress-led win | The Hindu; The New Indian Express |
| 10 Nov 2026 | Book released by HarperCollins India | The Hindu; The New Indian Express |
What is new here, and what she would not discuss
The Sonia Gandhi interview adds a few details about how the book was made. She told The Hindu she first wrote “a bit” more than a decade ago and “only started writing in earnest about five years ago”. Asked about the many books written about her, she said: “I had no idea there were so many! But I have never felt like reading books about myself.”
She did not take up one question. The Hindu reported that Penguin Random House India said on 28 August 2026 that it was not the publisher of the Sonia Gandhi memoir in India, and that HarperCollins India announced its publication in early September. Asked whether the change was about the book’s content or about a writer’s freedom, she said: “I would rather not involve myself in these controversies.” The Hindu also reported that Alfred A. Knopf is publishing the Sonia Gandhi book internationally on the same day.
When readers can get the full book
The Sonia Gandhi memoir is due on 10 November 2026 from HarperCollins India. Until then, readers have only the extracts and interviews published so far, mostly in The Hindu, so claims about what the full book says beyond them cannot yet be checked. For more political news, see the NewsPlainly Politics section.
Frequently asked questions
When does Sonia Gandhi's memoir come out?
On 10 November 2026, published by HarperCollins India, according to The Hindu and The New Indian Express.
What did she say about the BJP?
In a written interview with The Hindu she said that over the last twelve years great damage had been done to the fabric of the country, its democracy and its institutions. This is her claim.
Why did Penguin Random House India not publish it?
The Hindu reported that Penguin said on 28 August 2026 it was not the publisher in India. Asked about it, Sonia Gandhi said she would rather not involve herself in the controversy.
Has the BJP responded?
The reports read for this article did not carry a BJP response.