New Delhi, November 12, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has recalled an unusual encounter with a palmist at the Gandhi family’s former Delhi residence in the late 1970s, when the man predicted that her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, would become Prime Minister rather than his younger brother, Sanjay Gandhi.
The episode features in Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, released on November 10. She recounts the incident from the family’s years at Bungalow No. 12 on Willingdon Crescent, a period she describes as the “Baara Number days”.
The family had moved into the four-bedroom house after Indira Gandhi lost power in 1977. At the time, Rajiv was working as a commercial pilot and had shown little interest in politics, while Sanjay was widely viewed as his mother’s political successor.
Sonia writes that a man dressed in white entered her portion of the house without permission and tried to persuade her to have her palm read. Despite her request that he leave, he persisted. When she angrily attempted to drive him away, he reportedly shouted: “Nahi, nahi, Sanjay nahi — aapke pati Rajivji ek din pradhan mantri banenge!” (No, no, not Sanjay, your husband Rajiv will become Prime Minister one day!)
She then found Rajiv laughing, with the palmist’s ink imprint on his palm. He had already interacted with the man and treated the encounter as a joke. Sonia recalls that the incident left her so upset that she went to her room and burst into tears.
The prediction acquired a disturbing significance after a series of tragedies. Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash in June 1980, and Indira Gandhi was assassinated in October 1984. Rajiv was sworn in as Prime Minister within hours of his mother’s death. Sonia’s memoir says he accepted the responsibility despite her tearful appeals against his entry into politics. He reportedly told her, “They will kill me anyway.”
The book also recalls other incidents that made Sonia reflect on coincidence and ominous signs, despite her stated disbelief in superstition.
During Rajiv’s 41st birthday celebrations in August 1985, the family received news that Akali leader Harchand Singh Longowal had been shot dead in Punjab. Sonia writes that she wondered whether the tragedy was a warning or merely a coincidence.
She also revisits the couple’s decision to move into 10 Janpath on February 5, 1990. Some of Rajiv’s colleagues had reportedly described the residence as inauspicious, citing an alleged elephant’s grave behind its rear gate and the grave of a Sufi pir opposite the property. The couple dismissed such concerns, according to the memoir.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991, around 15 months after moving into the residence.
The recollections offer a personal account of how political events, family tragedies and seemingly insignificant encounters shaped Sonia Gandhi’s memories of the years surrounding Rajiv Gandhi’s rise to power and his eventual assassination.
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