New Delhi, November 7, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has reflected on her life within the Gandhi family, the Emergency, her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the challenges faced by the Congress in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. She appeared reluctant to engage directly with questions about nepotism and the Gandhi family’s continued leadership of the party.
Asked why the Congress remained under her family’s leadership, Sonia Gandhi replied, “You would have to ask the party.” On nepotism, she said, “We all fight elections: we win them, we lose them. All of us have.”
The interview was published on Saturday alongside an edited extract from her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, scheduled for publication early next week. The newspaper observed that she avoided directly addressing allegations of nepotism and questions about whether a Gandhi-led Congress could remain a credible alternative to the BJP.
Sonia Gandhi also defended the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s record, which was questioned over controversies during its decade in power until 2014. “In almost every single instance, the ministers resigned,” she said.
The interview discussed the Congress’s electoral setbacks under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and the BJP’s growing political dominance. The newspaper noted that the Gandhi family’s continued control of the party had kept allegations of nepotism and political elitism in focus.
On the 1975 Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sonia described the decision as a “mistake” and said she believed her mother-in-law had eventually felt the same. She maintained that Indira was “a democrat at heart”, adding, “I know that many would laugh at this, but I believe she was never comfortable in the course of the emergency. I think it was sitting heavy on her.”
She said the Gandhi family was divided over the decision. According to the newspaper’s account, Rajiv Gandhi opposed the move, while Sanjay Gandhi pushed for it. Sonia also recalled the tensions it created within the family. Her memoir includes the observation: “Keeping Sanjay in check could have prevented much of the damage that followed.”
Sonia also spoke about the trauma following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards and recalled trying to revive her mother-in-law while taking her to hospital. “There was blood everywhere, and I realised she wasn’t replying to my questions. It seemed as if she had already gone,” she recalled.
She described the journey to hospital as “excruciating” and spoke of the depression and trauma that followed, saying she lived “like a ghost”. The interview also touched on Rajiv Gandhi’s private expression of grief during that period.
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