“I'd quake in my seat”: Sonia Gandhi recalls Indira Gandhi's anger and temper; says grandchildren helped ease it

CONGRESS MP Sonia Gandhi’s memoir titled Belonging: A Journey of Love hits the stores today, November 10, 2026. The 554-page book covers her life, from her childhood in post-war Italy and her marriage into the Nehru-Gandhi family to the death of her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and her entry into politics. In the book, Sonia Gandhi has opened up about her life and her relationship with the Gandhi family in the early years of her marriage.

Sonia Maino met Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge and later tied the knot in 1968 in Delhi. Both of them have two children Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. She talked about different aspects of her life in the memoir, including her relationship with her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. 

Sonia wrote in her book that she used to be afraid of her mother-in-law in the early days of her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi. She explained how Indira Gandhi's sudden outbursts used to leave her intimidated. She also mentioned that it wasn't just her; the househelps, her staff and even Congress members used to fear her. 

See Also: “We were expecting it:” When Sonia Gandhi mistook gunshots for Diwali crackers before discovering that Indira Gandhi had been shot by her bodyguards at their residence

Sonia Gandhi feared Indira Gandhi's temper

The Congress MP wrote that she was most frightened by her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi's anger, until she got to know her.

She wrote that in the earlier days, when she had just married into the family, whenever Indira Gandhi used to lose her temper, “I'd quake in my seat.” The Congress MP continued writing that Indira Gandhi used to show her outburst in her own way when she felt disappointed and would communicate with that person. “But if a colleague had betrayed her trust, she didn't relent; she'd distance herself and not ever deal with that person again,” Sonia Gandhi wrote in her memoir.

Sonia wrote it was not just her, but everyone used to be afraid of Indira Gandhi's “occasional explosions of temper.” “They could freeze the staff into numbness. On one occasion a member of the staff who had forgotten to remind her of an important appointment, and not for the first time, was made to stand in a corner of the room while others hurriedly passed by, all feeling rather embarrassed,” she wrote.

She explained that the reaction was not limited to the staff. In another such incident, she recalled a “kurta dhoti-clad individual standing immobile in the corner, staring at the wall.”

She mentioned that she was not very aware of politics at that time and was unfamiliar with the politicians coming into the house. “I was not yet familiar with who was who in the political pantheon, but the fact that he was within our private space signalled that he must have been a Congress Party senior. I was with Amie Aunty (Amie Crishna, a senior staff of the Prime Minister's Secretariat) for a good half an hour, and when I walked back, the man in white was still stuck to the wall as ordered by my mother-in-law, I learnt later,” she wrote.

See Also: When Sonia Maino Met Future PM Rajiv Gandhi at a Greek Restaurant and Married Him Three Years Later: Congress Leader Recalls How Her Love Story Began Ahead of Memoir Release

When Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were sent to check Indira Gandhi's mood

The senior MP mentioned that in some cases, if Indira Gandhi was angry at someone, she would start to ignore them and refuse to deal with them. She would start, “offending individuals and ignoring them, leaving them in a state of suspense for days.” Sometimes, the anger used to flair up during mealtimes. Gandhi wrote that if she had an unpleasant encounter with the opposition in Parliament, you could see the anger on her face.

Sonia stated that while she used to be afraid, Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi used to wait for Indira Gandhi to cool down. Sometimes, Rajiv Gandhi used to reassure her, “Don't let yourself get so scared. She'll be all right in no time.” 

She wrote that later, when Indira Gandhi became a grandmother, these tense moments decreased. "As the children grew up, it was they who'd be sent to get a sense of her 'mood'. A smile or an innocent question from her grandchildren at once melted her; they helped her to relax and provided much contentment to her," wrote Sonia Gandhi.

She further mentioned that Indira Gandhi loved sarees and old Kashmiri shawls and sometimes found relief in doing domestic chores like sorting out photographs or arranging sarees, etc.

[Rh/VP/VS]

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