Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday remembered his father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, on his 82nd birth anniversary and said his mother Sonia Gandhi’s memoir would finally allow millions to read their story she long kept private.
Referring to Sonia Gandhi’s upcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love , Rahul Gandhi said he was “proud” that her story would be read by millions who loved her. “I know how hard it was for someone as private as you to tell the world your beautiful story,” he said. On Rajiv Gandhi’s birthday, Rahul said he could imagine his father “smiling and looking down proudly at his beautiful Sonia”.
“Writing about my life did not come easily to me. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Congress leaders paid tributes to the late leader. The book is expected to offer an account of Sonia Gandhi’s years within one of India’s most prominent political families, her transition into public life and her decision to decline the prime minister’s post after the Congress-led alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha election.
Because it required her to revisit deeply personal experiences and relinquish the privacy she had guarded for decades, sonia Gandhi has said writing about her life was difficult.
It meant opening myself up, sharing moments and experiences I had always held deep inside,” she said in a statement issued by the publisher, as per ANI. “Swaraj means self rule,” Rahul Gandhi said. He cited Mahatma Gandhi ’s imprisonment as an example, saying that while Gandhi was not physically free, he continued to “rule over” himself. Earlier reporting noted: “On the occasion of his birth anniversary, paying homage to former Prime Minister of India, Shri Rajiv Gandhi,” PM Modi wrote on X.
Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge , Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid floral tributes to Rajiv Gandhi at Veer Bhumi in New Delhi. Earlier reporting noted: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi , Rajiv Gandhi’s wife, and children, Congress leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and party MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra paid floral tributes at Veer Bhumi in New Delhi. Earlier reporting noted: How PM Modi, Rahul, others paid tributes to Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was remembered by political leaders across the spectrum on his 82nd birth anniversary on Thursday.
