Sonia Gandhi’s memoir sparks BJP attack: ‘Belonging’ or historical whitewashing?
The BJP has criticised former Congress president Sonia Gandhi over her account of the Emergency in her newly released memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, accusing her of attempting to soften the historical record of the period.
BJP national spokesperson C R Kesavan launched the attack in a post on X, arguing that the book appeared designed to downplay the controversial actions of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress party.
He suggested that the memoir would have been more appropriately titled ‘Whitewashing’, alleging that its narrative sought to make historical mistakes appear less serious.
The controversy erupted on the day the memoir was released, with Sonia Gandhi reflecting on the Emergency imposed in 1975 by her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
In the book, Sonia describes the Emergency as a mistake and says she believes Indira Gandhi eventually came to recognise it as one too.
She also discusses the role of her husband’s brother, Sanjay Gandhi, suggesting that keeping him under control might have prevented much of the damage associated with the period.
Kesavan, however, questioned the account and accused the Congress leadership of attempting to obscure the party’s historical record.
The exchange has once again brought the Emergency and its political legacy into the spotlight, reviving the longstanding debate between the BJP and Congress over one of the most controversial chapters in India’s democratic history.