Tridib Raman
After a long wait, the autobiography of senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Belonging: A Journey of Love, has finally reached readers. The book has generated considerable curiosity and debate, both in India and abroad. Soon after its release, it also found a place on the bestseller lists. It is worth recalling that Penguin was initially supposed to publish Sonia Gandhi’s book. However, it is said that the pressures emanating from the corridors of power proved too much for the publisher, which eventually withdrew from the project. Harper Collins then seized the opportunity. The book has been published by Alfred A. Knopf in the United States, William Collins in the United Kingdom, and HarperCollins in India. Meanwhile, several accounts and theories have emerged about how the idea of this autobiography took shape. If you recall, when former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh’s autobiography, One Life Is Not Enough, was released in July 2014, Sonia Gandhi had expressed herself in these words: “This is the only way to bring the truth out.” In other words, she suggested that writing an autobiography was the way to put one’s version of the truth on record. It took Sonia nearly twelve years to translate that thought into reality. When the idea of the book first began taking shape in her mind, Sonia discussed it with her adviser and literary agent, David Godwin, a well-known name in the publishing world. The two held extensive discussions about the concept and direction of the proposed autobiography. Godwin subsequently suggested that British writer and historian Patrick Rollo Basil French should be brought on board to organise, edit and give the original manuscript a more polished literary form. French was also a distinguished academic. He had authored The World Is What It Is, the authorised biography of Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul, published in 2008. The book went on to win the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award in the United States. Patrick French had an intimate understanding of India. He was a member of the executive committee of the Tibet Support Group UK and had also been a founding member of the Indo-UK Intergovernmental Round Table.When he came in contact with Sonia, she was impressed by his simplicity and exceptional talent, and the journey of Belonging began from there. Unfortunately, French suddenly fell seriously ill. By the time it was discovered that he had cancer, the incurable disease took him away forever on 16 March 2023. French’s untimely death came as a deep shock to both Sonia and her agent David Godwin. For some days there was a state of uncertainty. Then Godwin introduced Sonia to New York-based editor Robin Desser, who was also a person of exceptional talent. Sonia began to feel comfortable with her as well. However, Sonia had already brought two trusted members of the Gandhi family’s inner circle into her writing and editorial team: Suman Dubey, a seasoned journalist and longtime family loyalist, and his wife, Manjulika Dubey. Manjulika, popularly known as Manju Dubey, had previously worked with Sonia on two books, Rajiv and Rajiv’s World.
What was Suman Dubey’s idea?
Apart from being a seasoned journalist, Suman Dubey was counted among Rajiv Gandhi’s close school friends. When Rajiv became the country’s youngest Prime Minister at the age of just 40 with an unprecedented majority after the untimely death of his mother Indira Gandhi, Dubey was considered among the top members of his advisory circle. Not only that, when Rajiv became Prime Minister, he appointed his friend Suman Dubey as his media advisor. Even after Rajiv’s untimely death, the closeness of Dubey and his wife with the Gandhi family continued uninterrupted. So when Sonia discussed the autobiography project with Suman and Manju, Suman first wove the basic conceptual framework of the book. Sitting with Sonia, he first determined the different chapters of the book, after which the narrative structure was organised. The first draft itself was between two hundred and fifty to three hundred pages. This draft reflected Suman’s deep understanding of the country, society, culture, Indian values and the different political ideologies of the country. Since the title ‘Belonging’ had already been decided, Suman’s view was that this title should be given shape in the Indian context, how inclusive India’s civilisation and culture are that they wholeheartedly and naturally accepted a woman who came from a foreign country. The book edited by Suman Dubey was full of exceptional literary expression and a new perspective on understanding India. Its underlying meaning was: What, in Sonia’s eyes, is the real India? What does a country truly mean? In the true sense, this book was a writer’s philosophical expression that refused to limit Sonia’s sense of belonging merely to the legacy of the Gandhi-Nehru family. According to sources, Dubey’s own view was that “if a politician of the stature of Sonia narrates her life story, it should have the capacity to inspire generations. It should not be limited merely to personal observations that only include the account of one’s own family or immediate surroundings.” It is said that when Sonia showed this first draft to Rahul and Priyanka, both were deeply impressed by the book’s expression, emotional depth, philosophical style and linguistic richness. They said that the style of the first draft reminded them of Nehru’s ‘Discovery of India’. However, they felt that in this form the book would not be able to make any special impact among common people or ordinary readers; it would remain a book only for the elite or “class readers.” It is said that Rahul and Priyanka then sat together, prepared a checklist, and told their mother which stories still needed more space in her autobiography, which parts needed to be edited, and which portions needed to be removed. Sonia, treating her children’s advice as supreme, began working on another draft based on their suggestions.
What did the publishers want?
According to sources, HarperCollins was taking the last-minute walkout of its predecessor Penguin quite seriously. Sources say that one entire chapter of Sonia’s book was based on an assessment of Prime Minister Modi and his twelve years of work. Several things in this chapter were extremely explosive and could have triggered a political storm in the country. It is said that the publishers told Sonia they were not prepared to take such a big risk, because if the book came into the Indian market in that form, it would certainly be banned from sale here, causing them heavy losses. After the publishers’ request, Sonia removed that chapter; only a few passing remarks about Prime Minister Modi were retained. On the other hand, the publisher’s editorial team reportedly felt that Sonia should address certain controversial subjects in the book and put forward her own perspective on them. These included the Bofors controversy, Ottavio Quattrocchi, Sitaram Kesri, and her differences with former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, among other issues. The publishers also wanted Sonia to devote an entire chapter to her son Rahul Gandhi’s political rise and setbacks. They reportedly wanted her to explain how she had experienced his entire political journey from the perspective of a mother. However, Sonia categorically refused to say or write anything along those lines. Thereafter, Rahul and Priyanka advised their mother that there was little point in making sharp or critical observations about current or former Congress leaders. Such remarks, they felt, could send an undesirable message to the party cadre: that “we do not spare even our own people.” So Sonia made her comments about these Congress leaders very brief and mild. Despite all this, it remained a big challenge to keep the book in the news the moment it hit the market. For this, some faces from within the Gandhi family itself were identified, and the anecdotes surrounding them were polished and presented in a compelling, high-profile manner.
Will Tej Pratap shake hands with PK?
Lalu Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap Yadav may have lagged behind his younger brother Tejashwi Yadav in the political race, but he is making every effort to return to the mainstream of Bihar politics. Recently, when he participated as a contestant in the TV reality show Rise and Fall, he grabbed headlines because of his actions and style of speaking. He is the apple of his mother Rabri Devi’s eye, but his father and Bihar’s major political heavyweight Lalu Yadav has far more faith in his younger son Tejashwi Yadav. That is why the father handed over the reins of his party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), not only to his younger son Tejashwi, but subsequent developments also led to Tej Pratap’s expulsion from both the party and the family. After that, he formed his own political party, the Jan Shakti Janata Dal. Surprisingly, during the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, his own father Lalu Yadav suspended him from the party for six years through a post on his X handle, citing anti-party activities. Recently, when Tej Pratap was in Mumbai in connection with his TV show, it is said that he met Prashant Kishor, the supremo of the Jan Suraaj Party. It is claimed that PK offered Tej Pratap a merger of his party Jan Shakti Janata Dal into Jan Suraaj, and in return proposed making him the national coordinator of Jan Suraaj. When news of this reached the Lalu family, efforts to reconcile the two brothers intensified. Tejashwi’s birthday falls on 9 November. This time, when he was cutting his birthday cake, the presence of Tej Pratap along with Lalu and Rabri surprised political observers. This is seen as a signal that Lalu and Rabri now earnestly want both brothers to set aside mutual bitterness and differences and unite again in the interest of the party.
Controversy over voter list in UP
Ahead of the 2027 electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP is set to launch a statewide campaign from 20 November to get the names of 1.27 crore Hindu voters, who were deleted from the voter list, reinstated. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself has given indications of the proposed exercise. It may be recalled that Yogi has already been raising this issue on several public platforms and has called it the “last chance” for his party. The party has assigned the crucial responsibility to its district presidents and in-charges, directing them to work on a war footing to ensure that deleted names are restored to the electoral rolls, with particular emphasis on young and women voters. Recently, Yogi convened an important party meeting in Lucknow, attended by senior party functionaries, ministers from his government and BJP state president Pankaj Chaudhary. During the meeting, Yogi reportedly stated that under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, approximately 31,000 Hindu voters’ names had been deleted from the electoral rolls in each of Uttar Pradesh’s 403 Assembly constituencies. Accordingly, he set a target for party in-charges and district presidents to facilitate the re-enrolment of between 10,000 and 25,000 voters in every Assembly constituency. Taking the initiative a step further, Pankaj Chaudhary reportedly instructed district presidents to reach out even to those voters who had left their cities for villages or migrated from Uttar Pradesh to other states, and encourage them to get their names re-entered in the electoral rolls.
Why the Deleted Voters Matter for BJP in 2027
The BJP’s concern over the 1.27 crore Hindu voters deleted under SIR is easy to understand. If one looks at the margin of victory between the BJP and the SP in the 2017 UP Assembly elections, the saffron party was ahead by 1.55 crore votes. In the 2022 elections, this margin had reduced to just 85 lakh votes. This time the situation is even more difficult for the BJP. To correct this, with the help of indirect forces, the BJP has fielded a new social transformation front of Ravan and Owaisi. BJP strategists believe that this “vote-cutter” front can spoil the game of the SP-Congress on 35–50 assembly seats. Under the new rules of the Special Summary Revision (SSR), Booth Level Officers (BLOs) can go door-to-door, verify, identify left-out voters, and add their names back to the voter list. The opportunity to re-include these deleted names in the voter list may be available until 16 December. Perhaps that is why Chief Minister Yogi has appealed to his cadre to leave all other work and prioritise this task. There are several seats such as Bijnor, Shravasti, Faridpur, Phulpur, and Aurai where the BJP defeated the SP by margins of just 1,500 or 3,000 votes. The number of such seats is around 18–20. So if the names of 30,000 Hindu voters are deleted, the game can turn at any time.