Why Sonia Gandhi begged husband Rajiv not to enter politics, but did not stop son Rahul Gandhi?

Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has recalled how she had "begged" her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, not to enter politics, but chose not to oppose her son Rahul Gandhi when he decided to follow a similar path.

In her memoir, Belonging: A Journey Of Love, which was released worldwide on Tuesday, Sonia Gandhi wrote that Rahul had long been interested in politics and held deep respect for his father's courage in continuing his public life despite the threats he faced.

"Two decades earlier, I had begged Rajiv not to enter politics, not to throw himself and all of us into that menacing world. Now, it was my son's turn, and this time I did not resist it. Rahul had foreseen his father's end; he had fought with him over it. Yet he carried within him a deep kinship with his father's values and respect for the courage with which he had soldiered on despite the looming threat," she wrote.

Sonia Gandhi also recalled the close ties Rahul and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shared with Amethi, the family's political stronghold in Uttar Pradesh.

She wrote that Rajiv Gandhi had taken Rahul to the constituency several times when he was a schoolboy and later introduced him to the realities of rural life.

Priyanka, meanwhile, had been present in Amethi during all of the family's election campaigns, building a close bond with party workers and local residents. However, her immediate priorities were raising her young children and pursuing a postgraduate diploma in Buddhist studies.

Rahul, who would visit India whenever he returned from abroad, often accompanied his mother or sister to Amethi. These visits gradually drew him towards working in the constituency as a representative of the people, Sonia Gandhi recalled.

She noted that Rahul had studied Development Studies for his MPhil at Cambridge and continued to follow political developments in India closely while working abroad.

The Congress party had been pressing him to take up an active role, a decision that would bring a major change in his life and put him under constant public scrutiny.

"The party had been strongly urging him to take on an active role, which would mean for him a complete change of life; he would become a public figure, watched and judged at every step," she wrote.

Sonia Gandhi said Rahul took the decision after discussions with Priyanka and her, along with considerable personal reflection.

In March 2004, Rahul announced that he would contest the Lok Sabha election from Amethi, while Sonia Gandhi shifted to the neighbouring Rae Bareli constituency.

Recalling his electoral debut, she wrote that Rahul had "won handsomely" and embraced his new responsibilities with enthusiasm. He focused on bringing businesses and industries to rural Amethi, following the development approach adopted by his father, she said.

Sonia Gandhi also praised Priyanka's work in the constituency, describing her as a "capable manager" who helped establish self-help groups (SHGs) to encourage women to support one another and bring about change.

The groups began on a small scale but showed considerable promise. With Rahul's involvement, the Amethi SHG became the largest in northern India, she wrote.

Rahul also established an eye hospital to address the lack of healthcare facilities, with its branches later expanding to Lucknow and Haryana.

(With IANS inputs)