NEW DELHI: HarperCollins India is set to publish the memoirs of senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, ending a long wait for the book that is expected to offer an account of her personal journey and years in Indian public life.

The memoirs were earlier being considered for publication by Penguin Random House India. However, discussions reportedly did not lead to an agreement after the publisher sought changes to certain portions of the manuscript.

HarperCollins India has now acquired the publishing rights to the book. The memoir is expected to shed light on Ms. Gandhi’s life, her entry into Indian politics and her experiences at the centre of the Congress party during several important political developments.

Ms. Gandhi, who served as Congress president for several years, has remained one of the party’s most influential leaders. She was also the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which led the Union government for two consecutive terms from 2004 to 2014.

The book is expected to provide insights into her personal experiences and her political journey, including her association with former Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi and the Congress leadership during her tenure.

The publication of the memoirs is likely to attract considerable interest in political and literary circles, given Ms. Gandhi’s central role in Indian politics over the past several decades.

Further details, including the title and publication date of the memoir, are expected to be announced by HarperCollins India.

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NEW DELHI, APRIL 16: Rajamahendravaram Lok Sabha member and BJP MP Daggubati Purandeswari on Wednesday lent her unequivocal support to the Delimitation Bill 2026 and the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill introduced in the Lower House, while allaying concerns over the potential marginalisation of southern states in a reconstituted Parliament.

Speaking during the debate on the two bills, Ms. Purandeswari sought to address the apprehension — widely expressed by Opposition members and southern political formations — that a fresh delimitation exercise would result in a net reduction of Lok Sabha seats for states that have performed better on demographic indicators.

No state will lose existing seats, she asserts

Outlining the contours of the Centre's proposal, she said the government's plan to increase the total number of Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent would ensure that no state loses its current tally of seats. Basing the exercise on the 2011 Census data, she argued, would preserve the existing political balance while accommodating expanded representation commensurate with overall population growth.

"The voice of the southern states will remain as strong as ever in Parliament," she said, adding that the delimitation process would be participatory in nature, with public hearings providing citizens and state governments an opportunity to place their views on record before any final determination is made.

Congress indicted for "deliberate delay" on women's reservation

Turning to the women's reservation provisions embedded in the 131st Constitutional Amendment Bill, Ms. Purandeswari trained her guns on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, holding it responsible for what she described as decades of unconscionable delay on a matter of fundamental political justice.

She recalled that the Women's Reservation Bill had been pending since 1996 and that while the Rajya Sabha had passed it in 2010, the UPA government had declined to bring it before the Lok Sabha — a failure she characterised as a deliberate act of political omission. "When Prime Minister Modi is now implementing this on a war footing, it ill behoves the Opposition to obstruct it on frivolous political grounds," she said.

Women as decision-makers, not merely participants

Ms. Purandeswari argued that the reservation of seats for women in legislative bodies would effect a qualitative transformation in the nature of women's participation in public life — elevating them from stakeholders to decision-makers in the truest sense. She invoked the legacy of B.R. Ambedkar, contending that the bill was in consonance with his vision of ensuring political justice for historically underrepresented sections of society.

Concluding her address, she said it was a matter of deep personal pride to be a participant in what she called a historic moment in India's constitutional history.