File photo: Sonia Gandhi paying floral tribute to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her 99th birth anniversary.
Weighing in on the Emergency, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has called the decision to impose it a mistake and said that she believes that her mother-in-law and then prime minister Indira Gandhi also came to feel the same.
The Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson in her upcoming book "Belonging: A Journey of Love" also writes that keeping Sanjay Gandhi "in check" could have prevented much of the damage that followed the imposition of the Emergency, according to The Guardian.
In an interview with the British daily ahead of the launch of her memoir, Sonia Gandhi said, "I always feel that Mrs (Indira) Gandhi was a democrat at heart." "I know that many would laugh at this, but I believe she was never comfortable in the course of the emergency. I think it was sitting heavy on her," she added.
Sonia Gandhi, who also holds the distinction of being the longest serving president of the Congress, was quoted by the British daily as saying that it was a mistake for Indira Gandhi to call the Emergency, and that she believes her mother-in-law came to feel the same.