Sonia Gandhi says she was alarmed when Rahul Gandhi’s security detail was nowhere to be seen as crowds gathered around him during the Kashmir leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in January 2023.In her memoir, ‘Belonging: A Journey of Love’, the former Congress president recalls trying to contact everyone she could. The march was paused for a day until security arrangements were restored, she writes. She describes that her “nagging worry” turned into sheer panic when Rahul was completely surrounded by people and was without any visible security cover.That leg of the Yatra later ended in Srinagar as the weather grew increasingly inclement. “Rahul, along with Kashmiri leaders Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and Priyanka by his side, walked into swirling snowfall for the finale of the Bharat Jodo Yatra,” she notes.Sonia Gandhi says she felt relieved when her son returned home safely and proud of his determination, despite his exhaustion after the cross-country march. She also noticed a renewed light in his face. “I find it difficult to express what I felt when he finally came back home; relief at having him return safely, amazement at the way he had held on to his resolve. I was proud of him.”ALSO READ | Pressured by Congress, Sonia Gandhi said ‘yes’ to PM post. How Rahul reactedShe describes the yatra as a message of harmony and an early step towards building opposition unity against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.“Most important of all, from the people’s point of view, he was the carrier of a message of unity and concord summed up in a slogan that came to be on everyone’s lips, the antithesis of what the BJP represented – ‘Nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat ki dukan kholo‘ [In the marketplace of hatred, open the store of love],” she writes.Story continues below this adIn another section of her book, Sonia Gandhi describes the moment she learned that her husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, had been killed in a bomb attack in May 1991. She recalls how their daughter Priyanka broke the news to her at home.Gandhi writes that she was resting in her bedroom after returning from campaigning with Priyanka. Rajiv had left Delhi again after a brief stay, and Priyanka had recently told her how exhausted her father had seemed while campaigning in Rae Bareli.ALSO READ | ‘A reality show’: Sonia recalls Maneka’s exit from Gandhi householdPriyanka, then preparing to attend a friend’s 21st birthday party, had come into her mother’s room several times to ask for advice about what to wear. When the music from Priyanka’s room stopped, Gandhi assumed she had decided on an outfit. Then she heard her daughter running down the corridor.Story continues below this adGandhi writes that Priyanka entered slowly, visibly shaken, and told her there had been an explosion near Rajiv. Reports said 12 people around him had died, but initially suggested he was safe. Priyanka said they needed to go to Madras.Gandhi struggled to understand what had happened. Priyanka went to the office to seek confirmation and returned with what her mother recognised as the news she had feared: Rajiv was dead.ALSO READ | Narendra Modi avoids eye contact during meetings, Sonia Gandhi writes in memoirStill hoping it was untrue, Gandhi called his personal secretary, Vincent George. He confirmed the death, telling her, “Sahab is no more.” Gandhi writes that she collapsed in Priyanka’s arms and could not imagine living without her husband.Story continues below this adShe also recounts asking to see Rajiv, remembering that he had donated his eyes. A doctor’s response that nothing remained, she writes, made the brutality of his death suddenly real.Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide bombing by a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, while campaigning for a Congress candidate ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The attack was carried out in retaliation for his decision to send the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka.