Her assessment, made ahead of the November 10 publication of her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, offers an unusually direct acknowledgement of the decision that remains one of the most contentious episodes in the Congress party’s history.

Gandhi, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson, also disclosed divisions within the family over the decision. Her husband Rajiv Gandhi opposed the Emergency and urged his mother to await elections, while his younger brother Sanjay supported tougher action against political opponents.

In her memoir, Sonia Gandhi writes that keeping Sanjay under control could have prevented much of the damage that followed. Her account places particular emphasis on the competing advice Indira Gandhi received from family members and senior Congress colleagues.

Speaking about her mother-in-law’s thinking, Sonia Gandhi said she believed Indira Gandhi was fundamentally committed to democracy, despite taking a decision that sharply restricted political freedoms.

"I always feel that Mrs Gandhi was a democrat at heart," she said, adding that she believed the Emergency weighed heavily on the former prime minister.

Sonia Gandhi’s comments distinguish between her assessment of Indira Gandhi’s intentions and the consequences of her government’s actions. She did not dispute that fundamental democratic protections were curtailed during the period.

In a separate interview published on Saturday, she acknowledged restrictions on democratic rights and the suspension of habeas corpus, the legal safeguard allowing detainees to challenge unlawful imprisonment. She maintained that the Emergency had been imposed through constitutional procedures.

That distinction does not erase the consequences of the proclamation. Opposition politicians were imprisoned, press censorship was enforced and civil liberties were severely restricted during the 21-month period. The measures remain central to criticism of Indira Gandhi’s administration.

Sonia Gandhi said she had not fully understood the gravity of events while they were unfolding. Only after the Emergency ended, she explained, did she appreciate the extent of the restrictions and their impact.

She also described Indira Gandhi as struggling with the political unrest preceding the proclamation, including violent demonstrations, attacks on public property and calls for officials and security personnel to defy government instructions.

Her account nevertheless acknowledges that circumstances did not make the decision correct. She said hindsight had helped place the period in perspective and maintained that Indira Gandhi eventually took steps to address what had happened.

Sonia Gandhi pointed to her mother-in-law’s subsequent expression of regret and apology for excesses committed under the Emergency. She also cited the decision to call parliamentary elections in 1977 as evidence that Indira Gandhi had recognised the need to restore normal democratic politics.

Asked whether Sanjay Gandhi alone was responsible for the excesses, Sonia Gandhi rejected that interpretation. She said several senior colleagues had pressed Indira Gandhi, while relatively few people close to her, including Rajiv, offered a contrary view.

The family disagreement, she recalled, was serious. Rajiv challenged his mother’s course, but she did not accept his advice. Sanjay, by contrast, argued that political opponents had to be stopped before they could bring down her government.

The Emergency was proclaimed on June 25, 1975, under President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, acting on the advice of Indira Gandhi’s government. It ended on March 21, 1977, following elections in which Congress suffered a decisive defeat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has repeatedly invoked the Emergency in its criticism of Congress. The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi designated June 25 as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas, or Constitution Murder Day, to commemorate the curtailment of democratic freedoms.

Sonia Gandhi’s remarks arrive as her memoir prepares to reach readers, providing her account of events she witnessed within the family during years of political upheaval. The book also addresses her subsequent involvement in public life after the deaths of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi.

The memoir is being published more than five decades after the proclamation, when the debate over accountability for the Emergency continues to shape exchanges between Congress and its political opponents. Sonia Gandhi has presented her recollections as a family witness.

Indira Gandhi announced elections in January 1977, ending the period of rule without a parliamentary contest. She and Sanjay subsequently lost their parliamentary seats, while the opposition Janata Party formed the government under Morarji Desai.