Published Oct 24, 2026 | 2:30 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 24, 2026 | 2:39 PM
The video came a couple of days after Sonia Gandhi made her Instagram debut, sharing the first look of her forthcoming memoir.
Making her debut on X, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, October 24, revisited memories of falling in love with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, recalling her student days in Cambridge, England and their first meeting at a Greek restaurant.
In a nearly two-minute video promoting her forthcoming memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, scheduled for release on November 10, Sonia Gandhi revisited her memories of meeting Rajiv Gandhi and the initial days of their relationship.
“In a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge, my journey of love began. Rajiv and I created a world filled with love, laughter and memories. On 10th November, I share that world with you,” she wrote in her first post.
In the video, the 79-year-old Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson recalled meeting Rajiv Gandhi at a Greek restaurant which she discovered while searching for a place that served food closer to her taste.
“Food in England in those days was awful. In those days, you didn’t have so many restaurants, you know, like you have today,” she said.
“And so I was constantly looking for a place where I could find some food that is closer to my kind of food, or Italian cuisine. And then we discovered this place. It was a Greek restaurant where many European students, but also Indian students, used to go for their meals. And that is where I met Rajiv,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
In a small Greek restaurant in Cambridge my journey of love began.
Rajiv and I created a world filled with love, laughter and memories. On 10th November, I share that world with you. https://t.co/zvN5Rqqstf
— Sonia Gandhi (@SoniaGandhi) October 24, 2026
She said a common friend introduced them, and then they became friends and started attending social gatherings together. Sonia Gandhi said she felt an immediate connection with Rajiv Gandhi and later learned he felt the same.
“When I first met him, I felt almost immediately that you know he was someone I would really love to be with. And, of course, I learned that it was the same for him,” she said.
She described Rajiv Gandhi as a “very good-looking” and gentle person.
“He was a very gentle-looking person. Of course, he was very good-looking, but that gentleness came through. So that was something which really touched me and struck me. So that, of course, I’ll never forget when I first met him,” she said.
The video came a couple of days after Sonia Gandhi made her Instagram debut, sharing the first look of her forthcoming memoir. The memoir, which traces Sonia Gandhi’s life from her childhood in Italy to her romance with Rajiv Gandhi and her political career, is scheduled for worldwide release on November 10.
The book had sparked controversy after its publishers, Penguin Random House India (PRHI), withdrew from publishing it in India after Sonia Gandhi refused to make changes to content reportedly connected to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and India-China relations. Later, HarperCollins India stepped in to release the book in India, while Alfred A. Knopf is set to publish it internationally.
Sonia Gandhi’s social media entry can be seen as an attempt to promote her book among the Gen Z, especially at a time when the Congress and other opposition parties and leaders are getting increasing visibility on social media platforms. It also comes amid the INDIA bloc’s intense protests against the BJP-led central government and the Election Commission (ECI) over alleged manipulation of electoral rolls and other electoral irregularities. The movement has seen massive support and participation from the young generation, led by student groups like AISA and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP).
(Edited by Fayisa CA)
