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Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has made her debut on Instagram, using her first post to introduce her upcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love.

In a message accompanying the post, Gandhi expressed gratitude to those following the moment and said the book explores love, duty, loss and the search for a sense of belonging. She added that she looked forward to sharing the story with readers.

 

A video shared on her verified account shows Gandhi presenting the book alongside her daughter and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi.

 

The 544-page memoir is scheduled for publication on November 10. Knopf announced the book on August 18 and released its cover, which features a black-and-white photograph of Gandhi from her youth. The cover was designed by John Gall.

 

The publisher has described Gandhi as someone who was once famously reticent and said the memoir presents her experiences with warmth and candour.

Her children have also spoken in support of the book. Rahul Gandhi wrote to his mother that he was happy and proud that her story would finally be read by the millions who love her. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called her mother a brave, loyal and compassionate woman, while also describing her as tough and fun-loving.

 

The memoir’s publication in India faced uncertainty before HarperCollins India confirmed that it would release the book on November 10. Earlier, there had been claims that Penguin Random House India chose not to publish it after Gandhi did not accept suggested changes to the manuscript. The publisher said that account did not accurately represent what had happened.

 

Belonging: A Journey of Love follows Gandhi’s life from her childhood in post-war Italy to her meeting with Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge in 1965 and her eventual move to India.

 

The book also recounts the assassinations of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, along with Sonia Gandhi’s subsequent entry into politics.

Gandhi, 79, continues to be one of the Congress party’s most influential leaders. Her Instagram debut marks a rare public move onto social media for a politician who has long kept her private life away from public view.