The horrific assassinations of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi naturally struck fear into Sonia Gandhi but she is acutely worried about Rahul and Priyanka’s safety also because of the “ruthless” nature of the “adversary” they are facing at the moment. She has referred to this additional risk factor in her book – Belonging, a journey of love, while explaining the change in the nature of political rivalry in the last decade.Sonia Gandhi wrote:“I feared for Rahul when he entered the battlefield of politics but never as much as I did during his long padyatras through the country and now Priyanka, too; I fear for them both, after the trauma of losing my mother-in-law and my husband. Is it because I understand even more clearly and only too well what is at stake, and the extent to which our adversary is ruthless and unprincipled? Our opponents have always used the garb of religion to further a regressive, right-wing agenda – only now, as their ideology has gained traction, they have become more hardened and violent.”She further said:“Looking back, I see how much India has changed politically over the last decade and more. When I first entered my husband’s family and, later, when I came into public life, there was still a certain decency and decorum in parliamentary politics. Yes, there were political attacks, strong words were exchanged. But there is now a marked desire in those presently in power to belittle and torment those who differ from them, to intimidate those they perceive as opponents. A similar trend appears to be taking over many countries of the world, a heartlessness that accompanies authoritarian regimes.”It’s not open to dispute that political bitterness, nay acrimony, has surpassed acceptable limits and the government and the opposition parties don’t even have systemic engagements after the arrival of Narendra Modi in power. While Modi and Amit Shah came up with the unusual agenda of ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’, the prime minister, ministers and top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have never lost any opportunity to brand the opponents as “anti-national” and agents of external forces interested in destabilising India.The phrase “Soros-funded” appears in political and media discourse these days more than democracy and politics. The Government and the BJP have also tried to portray the opposition leaders as anti-Hindu and anti-Ram while hyping up their imaginary love for Pakistan. Such a discourse does create extreme hatred among the gullible in a political culture where threats, violence and lynching have become routine.Apart from her love for Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi has dedicated much of the space in the book on Rahul’s politics.She wrote:“Two decades earlier, I had begged Rajiv not to enter politics, not to throw himself and all of us into that menacing world. Now it was my son’s turn, and this time I did not resist it. Rahul had foreseen his father’s end; he had fought with him over it. Yet, he carried within him a deep kinship with his father’s values and respect for courage with which he had soldiered on despite the looming threat.”But she has acknowledged his son’s political journey had not been smooth and he had to struggle against the resistance and antipathy of Congress veterans, apart from the unprecedented vilification campaign by the Sangh Parivar.She wrote:“Our adversaries had all along mounted an attack on him, supported behind the scenes by some dissatisfied people within our own party. Inevitably, there had been resistance to him from some old guard. His frank and outspoken views did not find favour with all. There were some like him who were pushing for a younger leadership across the country, for the Congress to become a fighting force, and others who felt threatened and unwilling to let go of their positions; those who wanted us to draw clear ideological lines against the BJP, and those who feared that a stridently secular stand would damage us with the majority of the population.”She added:“Differences grew within our ranks, which proved damaging to our party, especially since the media was actively engaged in amplifying them. It broke my heart to witness the level of aggression Rahul had to endure. As common as such attacks are in politics, this was a fully funded and well-organised campaign projecting him as an entitled and petulant man with little understanding of the political world. He was given derogatory epithets; social media trolls were unleashed to mock him and distort practically every word he uttered.”This correspondent, having covered the Congress for three decades, is witness to the deep sense of unease within the party over Rahul’s rise. There is no denying the fact that many senior leaders spent their maximum time and energy in maligning Rahul; they were always more interested in planting stories about Rahul than offering any critique of Modi’s politics and policies.If some of them ridiculed reporters who praised Rahul, others held him squarely responsible for the “destruction” of Congress. When Modi predicted split in the Congress, these forces within the Congress endorsed him, insisting that Rahul was destined to finish off the family legacy. If a few seniors said they did not publicly attack on him because he was “Rajiv ka ladka”, even some younger colleagues merrily elaborated on the “Pappu” theme without showing any hope in his future.Turning to BJP again, Sonia Gandhi pointed out:“A tactic that the BJP and RSS have employed against their opponents is to play accuser and judge simultaneously: to manufacture an assumption of guilt and either let the implicated persons crumble under pressure or keep the matter hanging without bringing it to a legal resolution, as happened with Rajiv. Over the years Rahul has had no less than thirty cases brought against him across eight states, all politically motivated, with the clear intention of keeping him going from court to court, preoccupied with lawyers; but if they intended to paralyze him politically, they must have been disappointed.”Sonia was most worried about Rahul’s security during the Bharat Jodo Yatra as he fearlessly mingled with people while walking on the road with thousands day and night. She has mentioned how she contacted influential people to bolster Rahul’s security when the yatra entered Kashmir.But she also conceded that the yatra changed the public perception about her son, saying:“from my point of view as a mother, I think the two yatras erased the image of him that our opponents had so assiduously crafted. He was seen finally for what he is – a man with grit and determination, a man with intellect and a clean heart. For the Congress workers, he had roused the party and brought it several steps closer to becoming a force capable of challenging the rich and powerful BJP. He had given them hope.”Sanjay K. Jha is a political commentator.