Delhi Confidential: Sonia Gandhi debuts on Instagram with memoir preview; INDIA bloc to plan next move against CEC

Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love. (Source: AP/Enhanced using AI)

Welcome to Delhi Confidential, your inside track to the power corridors of the capital. Today: From Sonia Gandhi’s debut on Instagram following her memoir controversy to the INDIA bloc rescheduling its strategy meeting to decide the future course of its protests.

1. 01

   First Book, First Post/ Gandhi on Gram

   MONTHS AFTER her upcoming memoir landed in a publishing controversy, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi shared a video offering the first look of the book on Instagram on Thursday. It was her first post on the platform, which she joined in the morning and got 1.45 lakh followers by evening. “Hello everyone, I’m truly grateful to share this moment with you all; the first look of Belonging: A Journey of Love. It is a story of love, duty, loss and finding a place to belong. I look forward to sharing it with you,” she wrote. Sonia’s decision to join Instagram, after staying away from social media for years, was welcomed by several Congress leaders who shared her post. She is currently following only three handles — INC India, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. In September, Sonia’s memoir sparked a controversy after Penguin Random House India decided not to publish it following disagreements over proposed editorial changes and deletions.

2. 02

   On a Break

   The INDIA bloc, which is currently on a break from protests in Delhi against “vote chori” and CEC Gyanesh Kumar, is expected to meet again soon to chalk out the next course of action. A virtual meeting planned for the Opposition leaders on Thursday by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge was cancelled as some prominent leaders were not available to join at such short notice. Sources said a meeting is in the works in the coming days where the INDIA bloc will discuss its strategy to raise the heat on the government and Gyanesh Kumar.