Congress Leader Saifuddin Soz Praises Sonia Gandhi's New Memoir Book

Saifuddin Soz lauded Sonia Gandhi's intellectual honesty in her memoir, while Pawan Kumar Bansal criticized the BJP's reaction, calling the book a significant record of India's political history and Sonia Gandhi's personal life experiences.

Congress Leader Praises Sonia Gandhi's Memoir

Congress leader Saifuddin Soz on Wednesday praised Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi while speaking about her memoir, Belongings: The Journey of a Life, describing her as intellectually honest and saying she speaks with clarity and purpose.

“I have known Sonia Gandhi closely; she is our leader. ‘She doesn’t mince words’ is apt for her. She either chooses not to speak at all, or, if she does, she speaks with absolute clarity. She possesses a distinct capability: she is intellectually honest. She doesn’t feel the need to speak unnecessarily, but when she does speak, she does so openly, meaningfully, and with a clear purpose. This intellectual honesty is a defining trait of hers,” Soz said.

Sonia Gandhi's Connection to Indian Culture

He also highlighted her deep association with Indian culture and her close relationship with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

“Upon arriving in India, she became deeply immersed in its culture. In this regard, Sonia Gandhi was fortunate to have had a mother-in-law like Indira Gandhi. The bond between them grew to be profound, deeply meaningful, and rooted in genuine affection…”

He further said Indian culture had become an integral part of Sonia Gandhi’s identity. “It is one thing to speak of someone moving here from Italy and adopting Indian culture, but for Sonia Gandhi, Indian culture has become the very fabric of her existence; she stands as an exemplary embodiment of that culture,” he said.

Congress Defends Memoir Amid BJP Criticism

Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal criticised the BJP over its objections to Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, saying the book covers her personal life as well as India’s political history over the past four to five decades. Bansal said the memoir was not an academic or research work on a particular subject, but an account of Sonia Gandhi’s experiences, feelings and perspectives.

“Look, the Bharatiya Janata Party naturally is nervous about the book. In her biography, Sonia Gandhi ji has covered everything really well, the history of India over the last 40 to 50 years and her own life. She’s also shared her feelings and perspective. This isn’t a treatise or a research book on various topics,” Bansal said.

Bansal Addresses Bofors and Political Ideology

Bansal defended former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi over the Bofors controversy, referring to his statement in Parliament and the investigations conducted in India and Sweden.

“Rajiv Gandhi stood up in Parliament, our country’s most beloved, our biggest, the temple of our democracy and gave his statement there that he or his family has nothing to do with it and the Swedish authorities should look into this. They carried out an investigation there. Did anything come up against them? No. A JPC was formed here, and they discussed it in full detail; did anything come of it? No, nothing did. And Rajiv ji had clearly stated this at the time; he didn’t hide the fact that there are international deals involved,” Bansal said.

Explaining the weapons procurement process, Bansal said the selection involved negotiations and competition among companies, and claimed that the process had resulted in savings for the country. He also referred to the public response to the memoir, saying the interest shown by readers and the display of the book at a Delhi bookstore had surprised political opponents.

“The reason it’s the talk of the town today is that no one in the opposition parties ever thought people would be so eager to wait for Sonia Gandhi’s book like this and rush out to buy it. I was just looking at the photos from Delhi yesterday. Like, the total display window for books is across their entire shop’s front window. Has anything like this ever happened to a book before? As far as I’ve seen over the years, people have never received a book this way. They didn’t take it like they took this one. Because of that, they’re probably feeling anxious,” Bansal said.

Bansal also described the ideological differences between the Congress and the BJP, saying the Congress believed in pluralism, secularism and unity in diversity, while alleging that the BJP favoured uniformity.

“On one side is the Congress ideology, and on the other is the Bharatiya Janata Party ideology. The Congress ideology has always been about taking the country together through pluralism and secularism, keeping in mind ‘unity in diversity’. In our different states, people have different languages, different ways of speaking, different attire, different food and drink, different religions. The idea that it’s woven into a single thing—that mosaic, that sheet, that rug, that magnificent carpet of India in itself: that was the Congress idea. Theirs is that there should be one religion, one language, and people should think the same way. So that’s the difference,” he said.

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