Sonia Gandhi Criticizes Modi Government Ahead of Memoir Launch
Sonia Gandhi accused the BJP of damaging India's democratic institutions in interviews promoting her upcoming memoir, sparking sharp rebuttals from ruling party leaders.
Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi accused the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of causing great damage to India's democratic institutions and social fabric over the last 12 years. In interviews with The Hindu and The Guardian, Gandhi described the current administration as an authoritarian force that maintains a stranglehold on the media and the Election Commission, stating that the opposition now counts for nothing.
These remarks precede the November 10 release of her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, published by HarperCollins India. Gandhi alleged that her previous prospective publisher, Penguin Random House India, dropped the book due to unease over its criticism of the government. The publisher denied these claims, citing a stalemate over a specific issue. The memoir details Gandhi's life from her childhood in Italy to the assassinations of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi.
Addressing the 1975 state of emergency, Gandhi acknowledged that democratic rights were curtailed but maintained the action was taken constitutionally to manage violent unrest. She noted that Indira Gandhi eventually apologized for the period's excesses. The Bharatiya Janata Party responded by dismissing the memoir as a bundle of dishonesty. BJP leaders Tarun Chugh and Pradeep Bhandari urged Gandhi to remove her Italian lenses to see India's growth, while Union Minister Giriraj Singh accused her of attempting to incite a civil war.
