Sonia Gandhi begged Rajiv Gandhi to stay out of politics two decades before she watched her son take the same plunge. She did not stop him.
Writing in her memoir, 'Belonging: A Journey Of Love', released worldwide today, the veteran Congress leader lays bare the internal family deliberations that preceded Rahul Gandhi's electoral debut from Amethi in March 2004. The decision marked a stark departure from her desperate pleas in the early 1980s, when she urged her husband not to throw their family into what she termed a menacing arena. Rahul had already foreseen his father's violent end and argued with him over the dangers, Gandhi writes, yet he carried his father's core convictions into public life.
Rahul arrived at the decision after extended discussions with his mother and sister, Priyanka Gandhi. At the time, Congress leaders had mounted relentless pressure on him to enter active politics, a shift that meant surrendering private life to constant public scrutiny. He had tracked Indian political developments closely while working abroad, having earned an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge. Amethi was already familiar ground; Rajiv had taken him there as a schoolboy to confront the raw realities of rural India, and Rahul routinely accompanied his family across the pocket borough during visits home.
Priyanka's immediate focus lay elsewhere. She was raising young children and pursuing a postgraduate diploma in Buddhist studies, though she remained deeply rooted among grassroots workers in Amethi across successive campaigns.
So the family realigned its map. In March 2004, Rahul took over Amethi, clearing the way for Sonia Gandhi to shift her candidacy to neighbouring Rae Bareli. He swept the constituency in his first parliamentary contest, focusing his initial tenure on drawing commercial investment and industrial projects into the rural district.
Gandhi's memoir now enters the public domain as both siblings steer national strategy for the Congress party from the opposition benches in Parliament.