New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi made her Instagram debut on Thursday, October 22, choosing the moment to reveal the first look of her long-awaited memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’.
In her first post — a video that shows her receiving the first copies of the book and sharing sweets with her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — Mrs. Gandhi struck a warm, personal note. “Hello everyone, I’m truly grateful to share this moment with you all; the first look of Belonging: A Journey of Love,” she wrote, describing the book as “a story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong”.
The 544-page memoir, set for a worldwide release on November 10, 2026, will be published internationally by Alfred A. Knopf, while the India edition will come from HarperCollins India — which stepped in after Penguin Random House India withdrew as the Indian publisher amid reported differences over editorial changes.
The book traces a life lived across continents and political eras: a childhood in post-war Italy, meeting Rajiv Gandhi at Cambridge in 1965, their marriage on February 25, 1968, and the assassinations that reshaped both her family and the nation — those of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. It is the first full-length autobiographical account from the Congress’s longest-serving president, who is 79.
Reactions from within the family were swift. Rahul Gandhi said he was proud that her story would finally be read by the millions who love her — an acknowledgement of how closely the party’s identity has been intertwined with her personal journey.
The digital debut itself drew immediate attention. Her profile crossed 10,700 followers shortly after the first post, and her initial follows — Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the INC — left little doubt about the account’s political orbit.
For a leader who has historically maintained a studied distance from personal publicity, the move to Instagram marks a notable shift. The memoir’s rollout, choreographed for the social-media age, suggests the Congress establishment is keen to place its most consequential living figure’s story before a new generation of readers — on their own platforms, in her own voice.
The memoir’s publishing journey has itself been part of the story. The switch of the Indian publisher, following reported differences over editorial changes, only heightened curiosity around the book — and the decision to reveal its first look through a personal video rather than a press release signals how carefully the rollout is being managed.
Political biographies and memoirs have long found a large readership in India, and a first-person account from one of the most consequential figures of the post-Independence era is expected to be among the year’s biggest political publishing events. For now, the Instagram post has done its job: the conversation around ‘Belonging’ has begun, weeks before the book reaches shelves.
‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’ releases worldwide on November 10.
