NEW DELHI: Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law and businessman Robert Vadra on Wednesday urged BJP leaders to read the Congress parliamentary party chairperson’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, with an “open mind”.“I would say that the BJP people should learn from Mrs Gandhi. I would say that they should read the book with an open mind. She’s like a statesman and she’s like a mentor to many people,” Vadra said, speaking to news agency ANI.Vadra said he was proud of his mother-in-law and the experiences she had shared in the book, which he received from her on Tuesday. He said he was yet to read the memoir but intended to do so.“I’m very proud of my mother-in-law for her life, her experience, my relationship with her, what I’ve learned from her, how she takes care of everything. And definitely all of that and more is in the book. Though I’ll say that I still haven’t read the book, but I’m a proud owner of the book which I received yesterday from her,” he said.Vadra also revealed that Sonia Gandhi had personally dedicated the book to him.“She mentioned she wrote a little something for me, that ‘to my son-in-law Robert with lots of love, your mom-in-law’.”“So it’s a personal book for me which I’m going to definitely read,” he said.He said the memoir took 12 years to complete and drew on her real-life experiences. Vadra described her as a woman who had shown strength and resilience while dealing with difficulties and making important decisions.“She’s always had a lot of strength, resilience and energy to deal with everything every day,” he said.Referring to her move to India after marrying into the Gandhi family, Vadra said she had shown considerable commitment and strength.“She’s a strong, sincere lady with a lot of experience, a lot of commitment that she learned when she gave up her life and she got married and came to this country. And coming to the Gandhi family requires a lot of strength,” he said.Vadra also recalled Sonia Gandhi’s support during his questioning by the
Share your thoughts in the comments
Be respectful · TOI community guidelines
Enforcement Directorate (ED). Alleging that he had faced false accusations and repeated summons, he said she would wait for him after each interrogation to check on his well-being.“Every time I returned from my interrogation, I saw my mother-in-law was there waiting for me to see how I’m doing. Her experience really helped, and it gave me the strength to deal with anything which was even false that I had to deal with,” he said.Defending Sonia Gandhi’s decision to decline the prime minister’s post after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Vadra said she was not seeking political power. He described her decision to nominate Manmohan Singh for the post as “a very wise decision”.He said people respected her for not pursuing positions and for wanting the country to remain secular and develop as a society.
