Sonia Gandhi | Indian politician | Britannica.com Indian politician Alternative Title: Edvige Antonia Albina Maino Sonia Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Sonia Gandhi, original name Edvige Antonia Albina Maino (born December 9, 1946, Lusiana, Veneto region, Italy ), Italian-born Indian politician who was president of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party; 1998– ) and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (2004– ), the ruling coalition. Sonia Gandhi. U.S. Department of State While studying English at a language school in Cambridge , England, Sonia met Rajiv Gandhi , a mechanical engineering student at the University of Cambridge and son of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi . The couple married in 1968 and moved into the prime minister’s official residence, although Rajiv eschewed politics for a career as a commercial airline pilot. However, in 1980 his brother, Sanjay, died, and Rajiv subsequently entered the political arena. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, Rajiv was named prime minister.

Though Sonia campaigned for Rajiv, she chose to remain in the background, studying art restoration and working to preserve India’s artistic treasures. When Rajiv was assassinated in 1991, Sonia was seen by many as the natural heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty , and she was offered the leadership of the Congress Party. She rejected the offer and refused to discuss politics publicly. In 1993, however, she visited Rajiv’s former constituency in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh , and was greeted by cheering crowds. She subsequently traveled throughout the country on behalf of trusts and committees devoted to Indian public life. In 1998 Gandhi agreed to become president of the then struggling Congress Party. Her initial efforts were overshadowed by the party’s loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) later that year in elections to the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian parliament), but she won a seat in that chamber in parliamentary polls the following year. After a nationwide campaign that targeted struggling farmers and the unemployed, the Congress Party won the 2004 Lok Sabha elections (with Gandhi retaining her seat), but it failed to secure an absolute majority.

The party subsequently formed a new coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Gandhi, however, chose not to head the government as prime minister, because her foreign birth had become a politically controversial issue. Instead, she invited the economist Manmohan Singh to serve as prime minister. In March 2006 Gandhi resigned from the Lok Sabha and as chairperson of the National Advisory Council—which oversaw the implementation of UPA policies and provided a salary to Gandhi for her work—after accusations that she was breaking a law that banned members of parliament from holding an additional office for profit. She was reelected two months later, however, and also in 2009. Although she again won handily in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress Party suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the BJP, and the UPA government was swept from power. Britannica Stories Manas: History and Politics, Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. She was born Sonia Maino in 1946 near Turin, Italy, to a working-class family, and spent her childhood in that region.

Her connection with India developed when she met Rajiv Gandhi, the elder son of Indira Gandhi, at a language school in Cambridge, England. They were married in 1968, and Sonia settled in India with her husband. Rajiv worked as a pilot in Indian Airlines, and only his brother Sanjays death in 1980, in a plane crash, changed the course of his life. He entered into politics, apparently with immense reluctance, a decision that is said to have made Sonia exceedingly unhappy: she is on record as having said, "For the first time, there was tension between Rajiv and me. I fought like a tigress -- for him, for us and our children, above all, for our freedom." Sonia Gandhi was seldom seen in public, and led a very "private life"; indeed, the 1984 assassination of her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, did comparatively little to make her more visible. Some people thought that, in emulation of some supposed timeless Indian tradition, Sonia Gandhi preferred to remain by the sidelines, content in her roles as wife, mother, and -- to some degree -- official hostess.

Her aversion to politics has been described by Tariq Ali, who recounts that Sonia is said to have stated that she would have rather seen her children beg than enter into the maelstrom of Indian political life. However, the assassination of her husband in 1991 paved the way for Sonias entry into public limelight, and senior members of the Congress party, alarmed at the partys declining popularity, sought to revive their fortunes by encouraging her to take an active part in politics. They might have thought that, once the Congress had been restored to popularity, Sonia could be marginalized. She resisted membership in the Congress, indeed the offer of the presidency of the party for several years, but eventually joined the Congress party in 1997. She became party president in 1998, thereby becoming the fifth member of the Nehru clan -- following Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi -- to hold this important post. The following year, in the general election, she was finally elected to a seat in the Lok Sabha, though the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat at the polls.

While she was praised for having saved the Congress party from utter extinction, at the same time the partys continuing misfortunes through the end of 2001 were secretly, and sometimes openly, attributed to Sonia; but if she was construed as a liability, the pathetic state of the Congress party, a previous incarnation of which was the mainstay of the Indian independence movement, can be adequately judged from the fact that the Congress partys other leaders most likely thought that without her they would be condemned to complete oblivion. Sonia Gandhi was strident in her criticism of the slow investigation of the inquiry around her husbands assassination, and made no secret of her opinion that her husbands opponents and other ill-wishers were determined to keep the truth from the public. It has been argued, not without reason, that her own entry into politics might have been motivated partly by the desire to keep allegations of widespread corruption in the last few years of Rajivs prime ministership from becoming proven public facts. In the event, numerous other controversies have dogged her entry into Indian politics.

Her opponents in the BJP and other Hindutva organizations, in particular, pointed to her foreign origins, and pressed forth the unsavory suggestion that a country willing to be ruled by a "foreigner", that too a woman, was evidently wanting in its masculinity and pride. Sonia acquired Indian citizenship in 1983, and questions have been raised why she took "so long" to acquire Indian citizenship. Since the Indian constitution, moreover, does not preclude people who have acquired citizenship by naturalization from holding the highest offices in the land, Sonias entry into politics became the pretext for offering the suggestion that a constitutional amendment would be required. In these controversies, as they are described, Sonia Gandhis opponents have looked exceedingly foolish and nationalistic. It is scarcely surprising that Hindu nationalists should look to the United States, which forbids its presidency to anyone not born in the country, as the example that India should emulate. One would have thought that, in this matter as in most others, the United States sets the standard not for freedom or liberality of interpretation but for jingoism and provincialism.

If loyalty is in question, the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 is unequivocally clear: it does not allow foreigners to acquire Indian citizenship unless they have renounced their other allegiance. Of course, if the advocates of Hindutva are inclined to see adherents of Islam, who have been in India for over 1,000 years, as "foreigners", one should not be surprised that the same predictable and pedestrian argument should have been deployed against Sonia Gandhi. These advocates of Hindutva have invested less in India than did someone such as Annie Beasant, an Irish woman settled in India who was an ardent advocate of Indian self-rule. Had Sonia Gandhis opponents riveted on the fact that she has brought no distinct ideas, no imagination, indeed not an iota of new energy into Indian politics, they might have been more effective and less nauseating.

To say this is not to gainsay the fact that as a politician, Sonia has learned the tools of the trade, and her decision in late 2002, to not host, on account of the "suffering caused to the people in several drought-affected states and in riot-hit Gujarat", the traditional part iftar party held as a mark of communal amity and friendship with Muslims during the month-long Ramzan, must be deemed at least in part as the gesture of a pragmatic politics. Whatever Sonia Gandhis eventual political fortunes, her own political presence is not calculated to breathe fresh life into Indian politics, though it may well be the training ground for the next generation of Nehrus. Sonia Gandhi Biography - life, family, children, parents, name, story, history, wife, mother, young Sonia Gandhi Biography December 9, 1947 • Orbassano, Italy Politician Gandhi, Sonia. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission. The story should have had a fairy-tale ending: a beautiful young girl meets her handsome Prince Charming, has two children, and lives happily every after.

In 1968, however, when Sonia Maino married Rajiv Gandhi of India, the fairy tale was only half realized. She snagged a handsome prince, but she also inherited the troubled history of his country. Rajiv Gandhi was a member of a family that had ruled India since the 1940s. His grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India's first prime minister, and his mother, Indira Gandhi, held that office throughout the 1970s. Rajiv himself briefly served as prime minister in the 1980s, but was assassinated in 1991 as he attempted to reclaim the post. Almost a decade after her husband's death, Sonia Gandhi reluctantly followed in her famous family's footsteps by entering politics. In 2004, after serving as president of India's Congress Party, she was called upon by members of Parliament to take up the reins of prime minister. Gandhi shocked the nation, and the world, when she declined. Members of the opposition breathed a sigh of relief, but others feared that the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty had come to an end.

Love at first sight Sonia Gandhi was born Sonia Maino on December 9, 1947, in the small village of Orbassano, just outside Turin, Italy. She was raised in a traditional Roman Catholic household, and her parents, Stefano and Paolo, were working class people. Stefano was a building contractor who owned his own medium-sized construction business; Paolo took care of the family's three daughters. When Sonia was eighteen years old, her father sent her to Cambridge, England, to study English. He did not know that his oldest daughter's life was about to change forever. In 1965, just a year after arriving in England, Sonia met a young Indian student named Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991), who was studying mechanical engineering at Cambridge University. According to Sonia Gandhi, it was love at first sight. The courtship, however, lasted three years, perhaps because Rajiv was from one of the most famous families in India, if not the world.

Sonia's parents were reluctant to have her become involved in such a different culture, and Sonia herself was nervous about meeting Rajiv's famous mother, Indira Gandhi (1917–1984), who was considered to be the "first lady" of India. Indira Gandhi's father, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), became the country's first prime minister after India claimed its independence from Great Britain in 1947, and Gandhi worked closely with him until his death. In 1965 Indira Gandhi was poised to fill Nehru's shoes. "Power in itself has never attracted me, nor has position been my goal." Sonia's fears were quickly overcome as she and Indira became fast friends. In 1968, Sonia and Rajiv were married in a simple ceremony in New Delhi, India; Sonia wore the same pink sari her mother-in-law had worn at her own wedding many years before. A sari is a traditional dress that consists of several yards of cloth draped around the waist and shoulders. Following the wedding Sonia and Rajiv moved in with Indira Gandhi, who by this time had become prime minister.

Sonia's relationship with Indira deepened, and ultimately she became the faithful and obedient daughter-in-law, in charge of running the household. This meant that although Gandhi came into the marriage a modern woman of the West, she soon traded her miniskirts for saris and steeped herself in Indian culture. She even learned to speak Hindi, the official language of India. Rajiv reluctantly enters politics While Sonia Gandhi served as hostess at state functions and received visiting dignitaries along with her mother-in-law, Rajiv Gandhi remained relatively removed from politics. After leaving Cambridge, he did not go into engineering; instead he pursued his passion for flying and became a commercial airline pilot for Indian Airlines. The heir to the political throne was expected to be Rajiv's younger brother, Sanjay (1946–1980). As a result, the Gandhis lived in relative peace and quiet, while raising their two children, Rahul and Priyanka, away from the glare of the media. India's Parliament Explained India's government is based on the British parliamentary system.

The Parliament, or ruling legislative body, is divided into two houses: the upper house, called the Rajya Sabha, consists of a maximum of 250 members; the lower house, known as the Lok Sabha, is composed of no more than 545 members. As in the United States, members of each house are elected to office, and they represent constituents who reside in a particular state. There are fourteen states in India. Legislative elections are held every five years. Following the election, if one party receives a majority of votes, one member is voted in by the party as prime minister. If one party does not achieve a majority of votes, members negotiate with other parties in order to form what is known as a coalition government. In the meantime, the 1970s became the Indira Gandhi decade in India. The Indian public revered her, calling her Mataji, meaning revered mother. Her political opponents, however, viewed her as a sometimes ruthless leader who seemed determined to form a dictatorship. She even caused dissension within her own political party, the Congress Party (CP). The CP was particularly popular in India, because its early members were major figures in the fight for independence from Great Britain.

As a result, the party controlled India's government for most of the twentieth century. In 1969, however, Gandhi split the CP; her splinter group was eventually called the Congress-I Party, the "I" standing for Indira. By the late 1970s Sanjay had become Gandhi's primary policy adviser, and in 1980 he officially entered politics by winning a seat in Parliament. Before Sanjay had a chance to fulfill his destiny, however, he was killed in a flying accident. A stunned Indira Gandhi begged her older son to join the family's political ranks. Sonia Gandhi was vehemently opposed to the idea, fearing that her husband might be injured or killed, given the explosive nature of Indian politics. After several long discussions, however, the couple jointly agreed that Rajiv should quit his job with the airlines. Although Sonia Gandhi was not pleased, she was a dutiful wife and supported her husband's decision. In 1981 Rajiv ran successfully for Parliament and took over the seat vacated by his brother. He served as the representative from the Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India populated by approximately 160 million inhabitants.

A grieving widow In 1984 the Gandhi family, and India, was shaken to its very core when Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her own bodyguards. Tensions had been escalating for some time between various Indian religious sects, including Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. Earlier in the year, Sikh militants had stockpiled weapons in their sacred Golden Temple, assuming that the government would not dare to enter their holy sanctuary. Gandhi, however, sent troops to storm the temple, which resulted in the deaths of many militants. In retaliation, Gandhi's bodyguards, who were Sikhs, shot and killed the prime minister in her own home. Just hours after the shootings, Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as his mother's replacement. Sonia Gandhi, resigned to the fact that her husband must lead his country, became his vigilant supporter and submerged herself in the role of a prime minister's wife. She became an art historian and worked with a team at the National Gallery in New Delhi to restore Indian landscapes.

She also collected and edited letters that had been sent between Indira Gandhi and her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, which were ultimately published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Despite Sonia Gandhi's successes, however, her husband Rajiv was a less-than-successful ruler. He was never able to match the popularity of his famous mother, and his administration was plagued by one problem after another, including charges of illegal arms dealings. As a result, in 1989 Rajiv Gandhi was voted out of office. Manmohan Singh: India's Newest Prime Minister India's newest prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was born into a family of very modest means on September 26, 1932, in Gah, West Punjab (now Pakistan). After earning degrees in economics from Cambridge University in England and from Punjab University, he spent the next thirty years working as a quiet but very key player in Indian politics.

In the 1980s Singh served as the head of the Reserve Bank of India, and in 1991 he became the country's finance minister in the Congress Party-led government of Narasimha Rao (1921–), which was in power until 1996. When he took the post, India was in disastrous financial straits, but during his tenure Singh became the mastermind behind the country's economic reform movement. He opened up the country to outside investors for the first time, and ended regulations that had kept India tied to the past. For example, Singh dissolved the "license Raj," which required private businesses to seek government approval before making almost any decision. By the end of the 1990s, with Singh's help, India was well on its way to economic recovery. Perhaps more remarkable, however, was that throughout the decades of scandal that rocked the Indian government, Singh retained an incredibly "squeaky clean" reputation. In fact, in 2002 he was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award.

And in May of 2004, when it was announced that he would be taking on the post of prime minister, Singh was given support across the board from representatives of the various Indian parties. Singh has been married since 1958 and has three daughters. In addition to playing an active role in government, he is also a respected professor of economics and a published author. He is a member of the Sikh faith; when he became prime minister, he became the first Sikh to hold the country's top government position. In the 1991 elections, Rajiv hit the campaign trail determined to reclaim his family's title. In an uncharacteristic move, security was light. Following his mother's death, Rajiv had taken to wearing a bulletproof vest and had surrounded himself with bodyguards. On this trip, however, his goal was to reconnect with the masses. Unfortunately, the lack of security would prove to be his undoing. On May 22, 1991, while swinging through Tamil Nadu, a key state in south India, he was killed by a young female assassin.

The woman was a member of the Tamil Tigers, a band of militants who were fighting for a separate state in northeast Sri Lanka (a country just south of India). After her husband's assassination, Sonia Gandhi was devastated. She became a virtual recluse for the next six years, spending most of her time with her children and rarely leaving her home. She did break her silence twice. In 1992 Gandhi published a book called Rajiv, which offered an unexpected glimpse into the life she shared with her husband. In 1994 she went into more detail when she published Rajiv's World. She also preserved her husband's legacy by traveling throughout the world and establishing trust funds in his name. Remembering him in such ways provided at least some degree of healing. Savior of the Congress Party Throughout her seclusion, representatives from the Congress Party (CP) sent appeal after appeal to Gandhi asking her to be their leader. The CP, once the strongest party in India, had never recovered from Indira Gandhi's death, and by the 1990s it was in serious decline. At the same time, one of the opposition parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was fast gaining ground.

Since most of India still revered the Gandhi name, representatives believed that Sonia Gandhi would offer the best hope of infusing new life into their party. Time and again Gandhi refused their offers. In 1997, however, realizing that the CP was in dire need, she agreed to formally join their ranks. Although she had no political experience, Gandhi threw herself into the 1998 legislative campaign. She made more than 140 stops throughout the country, delivering speeches to packed audiences. And, even though she spoke in a very soft voice and in heavily accented Hindi, she touched the people of India. It may have been partly because she was seen as a grieving widow, or because voters saw her as a reminder of the party's past glory, but the CP was re-energized and Gandhi emerged as a political power in her own right. As one CP representative told CNN in December of 1998, "She gave the party again a nucleus around which it could get united." Gandhi gained so much popularity that members of opposing parties, especially the BJP, saw her as a very real threat.

In an attempt to undermine her credibility, they attacked her verbally and in the press, focusing on a single issue: Gandhi had no right to be involved in politics because, having been born in Italy, she was a foreigner. It did not seem to matter than Gandhi had become an Indian citizen in 1984. Such attacks did little harm, however, since most of the voting public did not consider Gandhi to be an outsider. As one male supporter told CNN in 1998, "Ever since she married Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia has lived in India. She has learned all about India and made herself an Indian. In fact, she is a good example of a good Indian woman." Although the CP made a good showing in the 1998 elections, gaining twenty-eight seats in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party came out the ultimate winner when it formed a coalition government with seventeen other lesser parties. Therefore, in March of 1998, BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee (1926–) was named prime minister. It was, however, a short-lived victory.

Shaky to begin with, Vajpayee's government remained intact only until April of 1999, which meant that elections had to be held again in the fall of the year. In the meantime Gandhi was elected president of the CP, and it seemed possible that another Gandhi would soon be in the country's top position. Once again the question of Gandhi's right to be involved in politics came into play, although this time the outcry came from several top members of her own party. Not wishing to divide the group, Gandhi resigned. The CP refused to accept her resignation, however, and instead fired the members who had dared to oppose her. When the October elections rolled around, it was still not clear whether Gandhi was the favored CP contender for prime minister. As it turned out, the point was not an issue, since the CP had a poor showing, capturing only 112 seats. The BJP claimed victory, with 182 seats, and Vajpayee once again formed a coalition government. Known as the National Democratic Alliance, the BJP-led government controlled almost three hundred of the 545 seats in the lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha.

This time, Vajpayee managed to install a relatively stable coalition, and the BJP would remain in control for the next five years. Took husband's seat in Parliament In the same election Gandhi ran for two parliamentary positions, including the seat in Uttar Pradesh which Rajiv Gandhi had once held. Supporters of Sonia Gandhi gather in front of her house in New Delhi, India, in 2004. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission. Candidates in India are allowed to run for two seats simultaneously; if they win both, they must choose which post to take. Gandhi ultimately won both seats, but chose the district her husband had represented. Under BJP rule the country seemed to prosper, and by 2004 Vajpayee was claiming credit for turning the economy around. True, big business was booming and India was advancing technologically, but millions of rural Indians living in poverty were not benefiting from BJP reforms. According to statistics reported by CNN in 2004, half of the Indian population was living on less than two dollars a day.

However, Vajpayee was so confident that voters were behind him that, although national elections were slated for October of 2004, he called for polls to open six months early. Gandhi again hit the campaign trail, covering approximately forty thousand miles in the months prior to the elections, and spending long days speaking in sweltering heat that soared over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. For most of her appearances she dressed in a simple white sari, which is the symbol of widowhood in India. She also spoke simply and plainly, and made a direct appeal to the nation's poor. In direct contrast to Vajpayee, who touted big business, Gandhi's campaign, according to Egbert Bhatty of the Washington Dispatch, focused on "unity, tolerance, and love among all men." As they had in 1998, millions of her countrymen embraced the soft-spoken Gandhi, calling her desh ki bahu, our daughter-in-law. When elections began in April, voters turned out in droves. Almost four hundred million people went to the polls, and after all the ballots were counted in May, there was a surprise upset.

The CP, along with its coalition allies, captured 279 seats, a slim majority, but a majority nonetheless, in the Lok Sabha. Since it had won a majority, the CP needed to elect a new prime minister, and the frontrunner seemed to be Sonia Gandhi. Although Gandhi remained tight-lipped about whether or not she wanted the position, political analysts predicted that her victory was assured, and CP members were vocal in their support. Elizabeth Roche of The Age quoted senior official Ambika Soni as saying, "Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Congress party. We want that our party chief should become the prime minister." The fairy tale ends? On Tuesday, May 17, during a meeting of the CP, Gandhi made a declaration that stunned her party, the people of India, and the rest of the world. "I was always certain," she said, "that if ever I found myself in the position that I am in today, I would follow my inner voice. Today, that voice tells me that I must humbly decline this post." Gandhi's supporters pleaded with her to reconsider, but she remained firm in her decision to decline the position.

Some claimed that she was bullied into her decision by the BJP opposition, who once again berated Gandhi because of her foreign birth. Others felt that she and her children feared for her safety. But the public Gandhi indicated that she was stepping aside for the good of her party and the good of India. The day after her announcement, Gandhi nominated longtime friend and government official Manmohan Singh (1932–) to take the reigns as prime minister. On May 19, 2004, his appointment became official. Although Gandhi did not accept the country's top post, she remained at the helm of the CP, and those around her still considered her to be very much in the forefront of Indian politics. As Mani Shankar Aiyar of the CP told Bill Schneider of CNN.com, "She is the queen. She is appointing a regent to run some of the business of government for her. But it is she who will be in charge and who will continue to direct the fortunes of the Congress Party." In addition, after the 2004 elections, it seemed that the Gandhi dynasty would continue at least for another generation, since Sonia and Rajiv's son, Rahul, was successfully elected to the Indian Parliament.

For More Information Omestad, Thomas. "The Ghandis Return." U.S. News & World Report (May 24, 2004): p. 14. Walsh, James. "India: Death's Return Visit." Time (June 3, 1991). Web Sites Bhatty, Egbert F. "Sonia Gandhi: The Once and Future Prime Minister of India." Washington Dispatch (May 21, 2004). (accessed on July 5, 2004). Bindra, Satinder. "Gandhi Dynasty Poised for Power." CNN.com: World (May 14, 2004). (accessed on June 30, 2004). Gandhi, Sonia. Speech, Congress Parliamentary Party meeting (New Delhi, India, May 17, 2004). rediff.com. (accessed on July 5, 2004). Haidar, Suhasini, and Ram Ramgopal. "Singh: Poster Boy of Change." CNN.com: World (May 20, 2004). (accessed on July 5, 2004).

Pratap, Anita. "An Enigmatic Sonia Gandhi Transforms Indian Politics." CNN.com: World (December 12, 1998). (accessed on June 29, 2004). "Profile: Sonia Gandhi." BBC News: World Edition (May 14, 2004). (accessed on June 29, 2004). Roche, Elizabeth. "Sonia Gandhi Tightens Grip on Presidency." The Age.com (May 15, 2004). # (accessed on June 30, 2004). Schneider, Bill. "Gandhi Has Power, but Declines Post." CNN.com: Inside Politics (May 21, 2004). (accessed on July 5, 2004). User Contributions: Sonia Gandhi birthday special: Top 10 quotes by the Congress President - India.com Sonia Gandhi birthday special: Top 10 quotes by the Congress President On her birthday, we share with you top 10 quotes by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

By Zainab Mulla | Published: December 9, 2014 4:31 PM IST Comments Indian politician Sonia Gandhi was born on December 9, 1946, in Italy and turns 67 today. She served India as the President of the Indian National Congress (INC) political party since 1998. Sonia Gandhi, wife of the late Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi, belongs to the Nehru-Gandhi political family. A few years after her husband’s assassination in 1991, she joined politics and was elected as the President of Congress. In 2004, Sonai Gandhi became the Chairperson and managed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that formed the Indian government. She was termed as one of the longest serving presidents of the Congress party. Throughout her entire career, there were several controversies regarding her foreign birth and long-lasting friendship with Ottavio Quattrocchi of the Bofors scandal. But in 2004 itself, Sonia Gandhi was tagged as the third most powerful woman by Forbes magazine. In 2010, she was ranked as ninth most powerful person by Forbes.

Sonia Gandhi has four books featured on her, including Sonia Gandhi – An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny, a biography written by Rani Singh; Sonia Gandhi: Tryst with India by Nurul Islam Sarkar; Sonia: A Biography by Rasheed Kidwai and The Accidental Prime Minister by Sanjaya Baru. On her birthday, we share with you top 10 quotes by Congress President Sonia Gandhi: 1. “The Maharashtra government is working out a package for the worst-affected villages of the state in the recent floods. But we know whenever such calamities occur; whatever we do is not enough…more has to be done.” 2. “An economy growing at 7 percent per year, can and must find the resources… to improve the lives of its millions of poor.” 3. “The biggest challenge at the national level is to defeat communal forces for which the support of the Left parties was essential but the party is opposed to the Left in Kerala because UDF’s aim is to ensure economic development and social harmony.” 4. “I don’t see Nagma as Sonia.” 5. “My complaint with Dr Singh is that he sometimes does not highlight his achievements enough.” 6.

“For the last two days, some people have been trying to create an atmosphere as if the Government and Parliament are being used to favor me. This has hurt me very much.” 7. “I am resigning my post in the parliament. I have done this because I think it is the right thing to do.” 8. “[After Rahman and Pookutty won the Oscars] I am delighted that A R Rahman and Resul Pookutty have won this year’s much coveted Oscars for music and sound editing. I congratulate them.” 9. “The Indian army is confronted with daunting challenges as it fights terrorism. Even so I want to urge all concerned to ensure that such events do not occur in future.” 10.

The future of each of us is inter-connected and all of us should work together by following the path laid down by former leaders of the party for the development of the country and its brighter future Published Date: December 9, 2014 4:31 PM IST Sonia Gandhi, Politician • Biography & Facts Sonia Gandhi Politician Sonia Gandhi (About this sound pronunciation ; born Edvige Antonia Albina Màino, 9 December 1946) is an Italian-born Indian politician, who has served as President of the Indian National Congress party since 1998. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi who belonged to the Nehru–Gandhi family. After her husband's assassination in 1991, she was invited by Congress leaders to take over the government but she refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding from the party. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997; in 1998, she was elected President of the Congress party.She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004.

In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party. Her foreign birth has been a subject of much debate and controversy. Also controversial was her alleged friendship with Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi, accused of being a middleman in the Bofors scandal. Although Sonia is the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947. Personal facts SONIA GANDHI - YouTube SONIA GANDHI Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Jul 22, 2010 Sonia Gandhi (Hindi: सोनिया गांधी; born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino[1][2] (born on 9 December 1946) is an Italian-born Indian politician.

She is currently the President of the Indian National Congress Party, Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha and the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party. Gandhi was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in the year 2004[3] and was ranked 6th in 2007.[4] She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007[5] and 2008. She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in contrà Màini, not far from Lusiana, a little village 30 km from Vicenza in the region of Veneto, Italy. She spent her adolescence in Orbassano, a town near Turin, being raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building contractor, died in 1983.[7] Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.[8] In 1964, she went to study English at the Bell Educational Trust's language school in the city of Cambridge.

She met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, in 1965 at a Greek restaurant.[9] Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi married in 1968, following which she moved into the house of her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born 1972). Despite belonging to the influential Nehru family, Sonia and Rajiv avoided all involvement in politics. Rajiv worked as an airline pilot while Sonia took care of her family.[11] When Indira was ousted from office in 1977 in the aftermath of the Indian Emergency, the Rajiv family moved abroad for a short time.[citation needed] When Rajiv entered politics in 1982 after the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash on 23 June 1980, Sonia continued to focus on her family and avoided all contact with the public. Sonia Gandhi's involvement with Indian public life began after the assassination of her mother-in-law and her husband's election as Prime Minister.

As the Prime Minister's wife she acted as his official hostess and also accompanied him on a number of state visits.[citation needed] In 1984, she actively campaigned against her husband's sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi who was running against Rajiv in Amethi. At the end of Rajiv Gandhi's five years in office, the Bofors Scandal broke out. Ottavio Quattrocchi an Italian business man believed to be involved, was said to be a friend of Sonia Gandhi, having access to the Prime Minister's official residence. After the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi and her refusal of becoming Prime Minister, the party settled on the choice of P. V. Narasimha Rao who became leader and subsequently Prime Minister. Over the next few years, however, the Congress fortunes continued to dwindle and it lost the 1996 elections. Several senior leaders such as Madhavrao Sindhia, Rajesh Pilot, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Arjun Singh, Mamata Banerjee, G. K. Moopanar, P.

Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan were in open revolt against the incumbent President Sitaram Kesri and quit the party, splitting the Congress into many factions. In an effort to revive the party's sagging fortunes, she joined the Congress Party as a primary member in the Calcutta Plenary Session in 1997 and became party leader in 1998[14]. Within 62 days of joining of a primary member, she was offered the party President post which she accepted. She contested Lok Sabha elections from Bellary, Karnataka and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in 1999. In Bellary she defeated veteran BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj. In 2004 and 2009, she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Category Sonia Gandhi Net Worth | Search Net Worth Sonia Gandhi Net Worth Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is$2 Billion VN:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 2.1/5 (39 votes cast) VN:F [1.9.22_1171] Rating: 2.5/5 (24 votes cast) Profession: Politician Date of Birth: Dec 9, 1946 Nicknames: Edvige Antonia Albina Maino, Sonia Maino Country: India, Italy Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress and has a net worth of $2 billion. Sonia Gandhi has made her net worth from her many years in politics and was the longest serving President in the past 125 years. She was born in Lusiana, Veneto, Italy and has been involved in politics for over 13 years. Sonia Gandhi (born Antonia Edvige Albina Maino on 9 December 1946) is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India.

She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and belongs to Nehru-Gandhi family. After his assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian National Congress to take over the Congress but refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997; in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress. Since then, Sonia Gandhi has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party. She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party. Her foreign birth has been a subject of much debate and controversy. Although Sonia is actually the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947.

She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Contrada M`aini ("Maini quarter/district"), at Lusiana , a little village 30 km from Vicenza in Veneto, Italy, where families with the family name "M`aino" have been living for many generations. She spent her adolescence in Orbassano, a town near Turin, being raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building mason, died in 1983. Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano. In 1964, she went to study English at the Bell Educational Trust's language school in the city of Cambridge. She met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1965 at a Greek restaurant (the Varsity Restaurant) while working there as a waitress to make ends meet.

Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi married in 1968, following whic Sonia Gandhi Net Worth, 2.1 out of 5 based on 39 ratings Related Posts Sonia Gandhi | Our Politician History Sonia Gandhi was born on December 9, 1946 in Lusiana, Veneto Region, Italy. Her full name is Edvige Antonia Albina Maino. Her father was Stefano Maino, a building mason with a small construction business while her mother was Paola Maino, a housewife She had a traditional Roman Catholic upbringing and was sent to the town of Cambridge at the age of 18 to learn English at a language school there At Cambridge, she met Rajiv Gandhi, scion of the Gandhi family who was studying engineering at Cambridge University and they fell in love. She was hesitant, however, about marrying him due to the prominence of his family in India After meeting her prospective mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, Sonia’s doubts were set to rest and in 1968 she and Rajiv were married.

They moved to Delhi to live with Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi stayed away from politics and served as a pilot with Indian Airlines while Sonia stayed at home and looked after her family In the 1970s Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister till 1977 and her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi was deemed by many to be her political heir. However, in 1980 Sanjay Gandhi was killed in a plane crash and Indira Gandhi turned to her elder son to succeed her in the political arena Sonia was reluctant about Rajiv entering politics but was eventually persuaded to support him and in 1981, Rajiv won the elections from the constituency of Amethi After Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India and remained so till 1989. During this time Sonia served as his political hostess and went with him on many state visits In 1991, while campaigning for the General Elections, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber, who belonged to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The party leaders of the Indian National Congress asked Sonia to head the party and become the next Prime Minister after the party won the General Elections, but she declined The Indian National Congress instead chose P.V. Narasimha Rao to be the next Prime Minister. However, the party suffered a reversal of fortunes at the next General Election and again appealed to Sonia to lead the party in the name of her famous family In 1997, Sonia finally caved in and joined the Indian National Congress and in 1998 was elected party leader. She started campaigning for the Congress extensively and campaigned in more than 140 places The campaign was successful enough that she was elected to Parliament although the Congress lost the elections. Instead a coalition government was formed at the centre with the Bharatiya Janata Party at its head. This government only lasted for a little over a year. In 1999 elections were called again Throughout her campaign, Sonia had been plagued by criticism because she was not born an Indian, even though she had legally become a citizen in 1983.

In 1999, she faced the same issue although this time it was on home ground in the Congress itself Three senior party leaders, Sharad Pawar, P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar expressed vehement objections to her being considered a Prime Ministerial candidate considering that she was not from India. She resigned from the party, but her resignation wasn’t accepted. Instead the three were expelled from the party She led the Opposition from 1999 to 2004 during which time she also led a no-confidence motion against the government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee. In 2004 she contested from Rae Bareli and won Everyone expected that she would take the reins as Prime Minister although she never said anything one way or the other. However, at the last minute she nominated Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate although she herself remained the party president as well as the president of the United Progressive Alliance She has contested from Rae Bareli through the subsequent General Elections and won. She currently heads the Opposition in the Indian Parliament Sonia Gandhi History - Sonia Gandhi Net Worth Sonia Gandhi History Read more... Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is $2 Billion.

Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress and has a net worth of $2 billion. Sonia Gandhi has made her net worth from her many years in politics and was the longest serving President in the pa. Sonia Gandhi (born Antonia E... Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is $2 Billion. Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is $2 Billion. Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress and has a net worth of $2 billion. Sonia Gandhi has made her net worth from her many years in politics and was the longest serving President in the pa Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and belongs to Nehru-Gandhi family. After his assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian National Congress to take over the Congress but refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997; in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress. Since then, Sonia Gandhi has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party.

She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party. Her foreign birth has been a subject of much debate and... Sonia Gandhi Religion - Sonia Gandhi Net Worth Sonia Gandhi Religion Read more... Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is $2 Billion. Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress and has a net worth of $2 billion. Sonia Gandhi has made her net worth from her many years in politics and was the longest serving President in the pa. Sonia Gandhi (born Antonia E... Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is $2 Billion. Sonia Gandhi Net Worth is $2 Billion. Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress and has a net worth of $2 billion. Sonia Gandhi has made her net worth from her many years in politics and was the longest serving President in the pa Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India.

She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and belongs to Nehru-Gandhi family. After his assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian National Congress to take over the Congress but refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997; in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress. Since then, Sonia Gandhi has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party. She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party. Her foreign birth has been a subject of much debate and...

Question: Indian politician Sonia Gandhi was born in which country in 1946?
Answer: Italy