On Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Rahul Gandhi posted an emotional message saying he could imagine “Papa smiling and looking down proudly” at Sonia Gandhi, ahead of the release of her memoir Belonging: A Journey of Love. He said he had last seen his parents together more than 35 years ago and praised his mother for facing life’s challenges with courage and dignity, adding that only he and Priyanka knew how difficult her life had been after Rajiv’s death.

Rahul said he was proud that millions of people who love Sonia Gandhi would read her memoir, and acknowledged how hard it was for someone so private to tell her story. The book, due in November, covers her journey from Italy to India, her marriage to Rajiv, the deaths of Indira and Sanjay Gandhi, her entry into politics after Rajiv’s assassination, and her decision to decline the Prime Minister’s post in 2004.

Later, at an event marking his father’s birth anniversary, Rahul shifted to politics, saying students’ growing assertion of expression cannot be suppressed and must be converted into structural change, especially in education. Invoking Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of swaraj, he questioned costly education, an unfair examination system, and economic concentration, and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-RSS, accusing them of marginalising minorities and perpetuating caste oppression.

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