IANS

New Delhi, Oct 12: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who years back did not want her late husband Rajiv Gandhi to join politics, declared on Friday that politics was not so bad after all.

"Yes, I was very much against my husband joining politics because my mother-in-law had been PM for 16 years... There had been attempts on her life, and the PM was killed. My experience of politics was not a happy one. I felt that I would lose him (Rajiv).

"Having seen the worst, I did have some reservations about politics," she said, responding to questions from conference moderator Vir Sanghvi.

So why did she then take to politics just before the 1998 elections?

"When I saw certain forces were gaining ground, forces which to my mind (needed to be checked).

"I felt I could no longer just watch this happen, I felt frankly that I can't sit and watch that is why I decided to join politics."

Asked if she still had the same disdain for politics, she replied looking mighty pleased: "It is not as bad as I thought. That is why I am here!"