Sonia Gandhi's story represents the greatest transformational journey made by any world leader in the last four decades. Circumstance and tragedy, rather than ambition, paved her path to power. Born into a traditional, middle-class Italian family, Sonia met and fell in love with Rajiv Gandhi, son of future Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, while studying English in Cambridge. Cruelly tested by the assassinations of her mother-in-law and of her husband, Sonia grew into a strong, authoritative but always private figure, now president of a coalition ruling over a billion people in the world's largest democracy. Through exclusive interviews with members of Sonia's party, political opponents and family friends, Rani Singh casts new light on Sonia. In the first mainstream biography of this inspirational figure, the author's compelling narrative retraces the path of the brave and beautiful Sonia Gandhi, examining what her life and legacy mean for India.

1. In Transit 2. Those Were the Days 3. An Uneasy Transition 4. The Great Divide 5. Triumph and Decline 6. Turning Point 7. Lonely at the Top 8. Destiny and Doom 9. Charm vs Chasm 10. The Failed Messiah 11. Shotgun Marriage 12. A Dithering Withering Rao 13. Unity of Opposites 14. The Slide 15. Uncertain Future Sketches of Men at the Top Those Who Influenced Controversies Scandals Individual References Chronology Confession Bibliography Index

Remarkable for their sensitivity and humour, and replete with vivid descriptions of major personalities and events of their times, the letters chart Indira Gandhi's developments from a shy school girl into a charismatic political leader.

In the year 1965, Sonia Maino, a 19-year-old Italian student met a young Indian boy, Rajiv Gandhi, while they were both studying in Cambridge. She was born into a modest family in suburban Turin, where her father was a strict man who kept a close eye on his three daughters. Much to his chagrin, his painfully-shy middle daughter, of whom he was especially protective, fell in love with a man belonging the most powerful family in India. This marked the beginning of a story unlike any other - of a carefree Italian girl who was compelled to take on the murky world of rajneeti. With information sourced from close friends and colleagues, this book examines how Sonias courage, honesty and dedication have made her a leader in the eyes of one-sixth of humanity. From her idyllic childhood to her passionate love affair and from her days as a docile daughter-in-law to her current status of being the only Indian politician to have refused prime ministership.

Now updated with a new chapter on Rahul Gandhi The Congress party has always stayed one step ahead of the opposition by constantly reinventing and re-aligning itself to stay in sync with the political realities of the day. Its president, Sonia Gandhi, pulled off a master-coup in 2004 by declining the prime-ministership, while the incumbent Congress Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is the first prime minister since Nehru to lead the party into two Union government terms. In 2013, Rahul Gandhi was elevated to the post of Congress vice-president amid much fanfare and optimism. Tasked with reviving the grand old party, the young politician remains, in the minds of many, the best hope to lead the Congress into the next century, marking a new moment in the Congress’s concept of ‘continuity with change’. In his bestselling book 24 Akbar Road, seasoned journalist and veteran Congress watcher Rasheed Kidwai puts together an incisive and engaging account of the Congress’s shape-shifting nature and its tenuous hold at the Centre, providing a dispassionate observer’s glance at affairs within the Congress. Kidwai brilliantly tracks the story of the contemporary Congress in the years after the Emergency, using the Congress seat of power at 24 Akbar Road as his vantage to draw a compelling account of the Congress leadership from Indira, Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi to Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri, to the present- day trinity of Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi. In this revised and updated edition, Kidwai analyses Rahul Gandhi’s appointment to assess what the Congress needs to do to remain India’s nerve of power in the coming years, and whether the new vice- president can rally the party to a third consecutive victory at the Centre.'

Contributed articles; includes selected speeches of Indira Gandhi, 1917-1984, delivered during 1970-1984.