The BJP attacked Sonia Gandhi's newly released memoir over its accounts of the Emergency and 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The criticism renews political disputes over Congress history, Rajiv Gandhi's role and selective remembrance.Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, was released on Tuesday.

The BJP on Tuesday accused Congress leader Sonia Gandhi of trying to justify the 1975 Emergency and absolve her husband, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, of responsibility for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, news agency Press Trust of India reported.The party said the book should have been titled “Whitewashing”, alleging that it sought to gloss over the actions of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the Congress. It also criticised Gandhi's comments on the Babri Masjid demolition, terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other issues.Gandhi's memoir, published by HarperCollins India, was released on Tuesday.

In the book, she calls the Emergency imposed in 1975 a mistake and says she believes her mother-in-law, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, also came to see it that way.She writes that keeping Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's brother, “in check” could have prevented much of the damage that followed the imposition of the Emergency. BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan said in a post on X, "Sonia Gandhi could have titled her memoir as ‘Whitewashing’ instead of ‘Belonging’, because the motive of this book appears to be sugar-coating the historical wrongs perpetrated by the Nehru-Gandhi family and camouflaging the cardinal sins committed by the Congress party".Gandhi also describes the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as a “tragic and shameful” chapter in India's history.

She says Rajiv Gandhi's heart held no bigotry or rancour, but he was thrust into a period when effective governance had broken down and barbaric acts followed. She recalls that contradictory reports emerged about the period, including over the delay in deploying the Army. “Although the Chief of Army Staff, General AS Vaidya, had received his orders the same night as the assassination, we heard later that he decided not to mobilise the nearest units because they were manned by Sikh soldiers, a factor that might have exacerbated the situation,” she writes.BJP leader HS Phoolka accused Gandhi of misleading people and giving Rajiv Gandhi a “clean chit” by blaming then Army chief A S Vaidya for the delay in deploying the armed forces in Delhi after Indira Gandhi's assassination on October 31, 1984.Phoolka said deploying Army units available in Delhi was the responsibility of the civil administration. “If Rajeev Gandhi was not responsible, what action did he take against those who were responsible for the delay in deployment of the Army?” he asked.“Instead, Gandhi in his speech said, ‘jab bada ped girta hai to dharti thodi hilti hai’ (When a big tree falls, the earth shakes) to justify the killings,” Phoolka alleged.BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that Gandhi's book made it clear that “Babri resides in her heart”. “In her book she has owned up her vote bank politics.

But her life's biggest ‘B’, which is the Bofors scam, was missing in the book. People of the country wanted to know about the relationship between Ottavio Quattrocchi and Rajiv Gandhi,” he said in a post on X.Referring to Gandhi's statement in the book that she cried over the Babri Masjid, Kesavan asked whether she had shed “even a drop of tears” when gurdwaras were targeted and thousands of people were killed during the 1984 anti-Sikh violence under Congress rule.“Sonia Gandhi cried profusely for the Batla House terrorists, but did she weep for the brave CRPF jawans who were martyred in the line of duty protecting our nation and people?” Kesavan said.He also asked, “Did Sonia Gandhi cry for the innocent lives lost in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks which happened under the Congress Govt.

Will her book answer why the cowardly Congress-led UPA Govt failed to retaliate?” He added that Gandhi's attempt to “justify and normalise the notorious Emergency” was “truly appalling”.In her memoir, Gandhi says Modi is fighting for his vision of India while she is fighting for hers. She also says she has had “practically no real contact” with him and that when they come face-to-face, he tends to look away and avoid eye contact.Gandhi acknowledges that Modi had “worked his way to power within the RSS from an underprivileged world”, but writes that his origins may not have been as humble as portrayed by his public relations team.Union minister Giriraj Singh alleged that the memoir had exposed Gandhi's real face and claimed that “her tears flow for Muslim votes only”, but dry up when Pakistani terrorists kill Indians and Naxalites carry out a “massacre of Sanatanis”.Speaking to PTI Videos, Singh also responded to Gandhi's remark about Modi avoiding eye contact. “With how many people will he make eye contact?

He has already made eye contact once,” he said.“Narendra Modi makes eye contact. He talks to his enemies by looking directly into their eyes.

These people are not enemies,” Singh said. “He looks directly into the eyes of Pakistan and the country's enemies, and talks to them.”The BJP's response to Gandhi's memoir centred on her accounts of the Emergency and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, as well as her comments on the Babri Masjid, terrorism and Modi.- Ends