New Delhi, November 10, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has recalled the deeply painful experience of losing her first child, a baby boy born prematurely in January 1969, and shared how her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, supported her and Rajiv Gandhi through the tragedy.
In her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia recounts how the joy surrounding her pregnancy in the Gandhi household turned into grief after the newborn died just hours after birth. The incident took place nearly a year before the birth of Rahul Gandhi in 1970.
Sonia wrote that she gave birth to the baby boy on January 18, 1969. She recalled hearing his first cry as he was placed in an incubator and later seeing him with Rajiv.
“I heard the baby’s first cry as he was placed in the incubator. Later Rajiv took me to see him, a tiny, perfectly formed boy, with thick, black hair and long, slim fingers,” she wrote, according to NDTV.
“We fell in love with him immediately,” she added.
However, hours later, doctors informed the couple that their child had died. Recalling the shock, Sonia wrote, “No, it was not possible! Why, why, I kept asking. Both of us were shocked and heartbroken.”
She also described how Rajiv, despite his “stiff upper lip” upbringing, broke down and cried alongside her as they struggled to cope with the loss.
Sonia recalled that Indira Gandhi cut short her official tours and returned to the hospital to support the grieving couple. “She embraced us, her eyes red and swollen,” Sonia wrote, describing how the former Prime Minister sat with them during the difficult period.
The memoir also recounts the family’s discussions about the last rites. Sonia said she refused a proposal to immerse the infant’s body in a river, a traditional practice at the time. After several discussions, the family decided to bury the child at Feroze Gandhi’s farm in Mehrauli, South Delhi.
“It was a painful and agonising option, but there was no other way,” she wrote.
Sonia further recalled that for a long time, she and Rajiv would stop near the bougainvillaea bush where their child was buried and place a flower there.
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