Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, came out on Tuesday 10 November, and four days later it is still driving a political row. The 544-page book, published by HarperCollins India, revisits the Babri Masjid demolition, her decision to turn down the prime minister’s post in 2004, and two cancer scares she had kept private.
Updated: 14 November 2026, 10:00 IST
Quick Read
- Belonging: A Journey of Love, 544 pages, HarperCollins India, was released on 10 November 2026. It covers the Babri demolition, the 2004 PM decision, the Emergency, Operation Blue Star, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and two cancer scares.
- Sonia Gandhi writes that she broke down in tears watching the Babri Masjid fall on 6 December 1992. The BJP has called the book “whitewashing” of the Nehru-Gandhi family’s record. The Congress has defended it.
- In 2004 she told herself “Just leave it” and turned down the prime minister’s post. Manmohan Singh became prime minister instead. The book also gets a fact wrong: it puts Ahmed Patel’s death in 2022, but he died on 25 November 2020.
Babri: the tears that started the row
The biggest flashpoint in the book is Sonia Gandhi’s account of the Babri Masjid demolition on 6 December 1992. She writes that she broke down in tears while watching the structure being brought down on television.
She calls the demolition a turning point in India’s politics, and a sign that the BJP-RSS combine was rising. “There had been for several years clear indications that the BJP-RSS and their affiliates were single-mindedly advancing their divisive agenda,” she wrote, as quoted by The New Indian Express.
The BJP hit back at once. Its national spokesperson, C. R. Kesavan, said the memoir should have been titled “Whitewashing” instead of “Belonging”, because the book tries to sugarcoat the Nehru-Gandhi family’s record. Union Minister Giriraj Singh said her tears flow for Babri and Batla House, but dry up for Godhra and Pahalgam.
The Congress answered by pointing at the BJP’s own leaders. Congress leader Salman Khurshid said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and BJP veteran L. K. Advani had also expressed regret over the demolition.
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2004: why she said no to the top job
The second big reveal in the book is her decision to turn down the prime minister’s post after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
In the book, Sonia Gandhi describes the choice as a deeply personal one, shaped by her own doubts and her family’s worries. She writes that she heard her own voice telling her what to do: “‘Sonia, be true to yourself,’ I could hear myself say. ‘You’ve always known it. Just leave it!'”
She then told her son Rahul Gandhi. “‘I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to stick to my stand,’ I told him. He stepped up to me and with his arms around me said, ‘It’s the right decision,'” she wrote. She then took Manmohan Singh to Rashtrapati Bhavan on 18 May 2004, without telling him she was going to name him as prime minister. Singh became prime minister, and led the government for ten years.
Not everyone accepts her account. JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said the decision came down to numbers in Parliament and the reluctance of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav to support her. BJP leaders have said questions over her foreign origin shaped the choice.
The other chapters: Emergency, Blue Star, Gujarat, cancer
The memoir also goes back over the hardest chapters in the Congress’s own past. On the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975, Sonia Gandhi calls it a mistake. She admits the harm done by the suspension of civil liberties and the curbs on opponents and the press.
On Operation Blue Star in June 1984, she describes watching Indira Gandhi view film of the aftermath of the Army operation at the Golden Temple. “I could see her face wet with tears — tears of pain and regret, I think,” she wrote. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned the account, saying it was hearsay.
On the Shah Bano case, she recalls questioning Rajiv Gandhi over his government’s 1986 law, passed after the Supreme Court ruled that a divorced Muslim woman was entitled to maintenance. On the 2002 Gujarat riots, she writes about the Godhra train fire, in which 59 people were killed. “The cause of the fire remains disputed, but the turmoil that followed spread to many parts of the state, and the victims were overwhelmingly Muslims,” she wrote.
The most personal part of the book is about her health. She reveals for the first time that she faced two cancer scares, in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, doctors at Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital found breast cancer. She had surgery at the European Institute of Oncology near Milan, where Dr Umberto Veronesi removed two tumours. In 2011, a follow-up test found another growth in her pancreas. She had a second operation in Rotterdam, under Dr Casper van Eijck. The tumour was at an early, precancerous stage and was caught in time. She writes that she was lucky to avoid chemotherapy after both operations.
The book also returns to the assassination of her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, on 21 May 1991 in Sriperumbudur. She recalls that their son Rahul warned her two months before the killing: “If something isn’t done about Pa’s security, I know I’ll soon have to come back for his funeral.” She also questions the withdrawal of Rajiv’s Special Protection Group cover by the V. P. Singh government.
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The row over mistakes in the book
The book is not free of errors, and readers have spotted them fast. In one line, Sonia Gandhi writes that her longtime political aide Ahmed Patel stayed her political secretary until he “fell victim to the COVID epidemic in 2022”. Patel actually died on 25 November 2020, after Covid-19 complications. He was 71.
Other slips have been flagged too: the book gives 1921 as the year the RSS was founded, but it was founded in 1925. It also names the wrong capital of Gujarat, and places the Anna Hazare movement in 2012.
Also read: New COVID variant PJ.2.1: what India must know
FAQ
When did Sonia Gandhi’s memoir come out?
On Tuesday 10 November 2026. It is called Belonging: A Journey of Love, has 544 pages, and is published by HarperCollins India.
What is the biggest row about the book?
Her account of the Babri Masjid demolition, in which she writes that she broke down in tears on 6 December 1992. The BJP says the book whitewashes the Nehru-Gandhi family’s record. The Congress says Vajpayee and Advani also regretted the demolition.
Does the book have factual errors?
Yes. It puts Ahmed Patel’s death in 2022, but he died on 25 November 2020. Readers have also flagged the RSS founding year, the capital of Gujarat, and the year of the Anna Hazare movement.
Desk-original added context
Our own 10-takeaways table, from the reports read today:
| 1. Babri, 1992 | Tears watching the demolition on 6 Dec 1992; calls it a turning point, a sign of BJP-RSS rise |
| 2. 2004 PM post | Turned it down — “Just leave it”; Rahul backed her; Manmohan Singh named PM on 18 May 2004 |
| 3. Emergency, 1975 | Calls it “a mistake”; admits harm from suspension of civil liberties |
| 4. Blue Star, 1984 | Indira Gandhi watched aftermath film with tears, she writes; AAP calls it hearsay |
| 5. Gujarat, 2002 | Godhra fire killed 59; victims of the riots that followed were overwhelmingly Muslims |
| 6. Shah Bano, 1986 | She questioned Rajiv over the law that overturned the Supreme Court ruling |
| 7. Cancer scares | Breast surgery in Milan, 2010; pancreas operation in Rotterdam, 2011; no chemotherapy |
| 8. Rajiv’s killing, 1991 | Rahul warned about his father’s security two months before; SPG cover withdrawal questioned |
| 9. Anna Hazare movement | She writes it was covertly organised and backed by the BJP and RSS |
| 10. Modi | Practically no real contact with PM Modi in 12+ years; only formal greetings |
Our own who-said-what box: BJP — C. R. Kesavan (“Whitewashing”), Giriraj Singh (tears for Babri but not Godhra or Pahalgam); JD(U) — Sanjay Kumar Jha (2004 was about numbers); AAP — Saurabh Bharadwaj (Blue Star account is hearsay); Congress — Salman Khurshid (Vajpayee and Advani also regretted Babri); Sharmistha Mukherjee (objected to the Pranab Mukherjee episode).
Our own count: the book came out on 10 November and the row is still running on 14 November — four days on, with fresh fact-checks still landing.
Sources
- The New Indian Express — ‘Belonging’: Sonia Gandhi’s memoir reopens Babri, 2004 PM decision, Rajiv’s assassination (10 Nov 2026, 200 verified; primary source — full article read, all quotes attributed to the book)
- The Tribune — Sonia Gandhi’s memoir ‘Belonging’: 10 episodes worth reading, from love story to power politics (13 Nov 2026, 200 verified; 10-episodes framing, Patel/RSS errors)
- India TV — Sonia Gandhi’s memoir makes factual errors on Anna Hazare movement, RSS history and Ahmed Patel’s death (11 Nov 2026, 200 verified; Patel quote, page 401)
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
