Sonia Gandhi

From Open Encyclopedia

Image:Ac.soniagandhi.jpg Sonia Gandhi (सोनिया गाँधी) (born December 9, 1946), is an Italian-born Indian politician, the President of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) and the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. She is currently the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha. She was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine, next to Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi in the year 2004. [1].

1 Early life
2 Role in Indian politics
3 Family
4 Literary contributions
5 References
6 External links

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Early life

Born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Orbassano, a town 20 km from Turin, Italy, she spent her adolescence in Orbassano being raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building contractor, died in 1983, but her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano. While doing a course in English in Cambridge, England she met Rajiv Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister of India. They were married in 1968, after which she took up residence in India. She acquired Indian citizenship in 1983, (she was eligible for citizenship after five years of residence in India). The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born 1972). Despite the family's heavy involvement in politics (her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister), Sonia and Rajiv avoided all involvement - Rajiv worked as an airline pilot, and Sonia took care of her family. When Indira was ousted from office in 1977 and when Rajiv entered politics in 1982, Sonia continued to focus on her family and avoided all contact with publicity.

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Role in Indian politics

Following her husband's assassination on May 21, 1991, there were calls for her to enter politics by members of the Congress Party. After her refusal, the party settled on the choice of P V Narasimha Rao as leader and, subsequently, Prime Minister. She finally entered politics just before the 1998 national election. She officially took charge of the Congress party as the president in 1998 and was elected to parliament in the elections held in 1999. She was elected the Leader of the Opposition of the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999. During her campaign, her opponents (chiefly the Bharatiya Janata Party) played up her foreign birth, her failure to take up Indian citizenship for 15 years after her marriage, and her lack of fluency in Hindi. In May 1999, Sonia Gandhi offered to resign from the Congress Party leadership after three senior leaders challenged her right to try to become India's Prime Minister given that she was someone "not born of Indian soil."

In the Indian general elections, 2004, when the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was set to win a majority (as per most opinion polls), Sonia, launched an aggressive campaign, criss-crossing the country on the 'Aam Aadmi' (Ordinary people) slogan in contrast to the 'India Shining' slogan of the right wing BJP-led NDA alliance. After her party's surprise victory, she was tipped to be the next Prime Minister of India. On May 16, she was unanimously voted to lead a 15-party coalition government which was subsequently named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). A storm of controversy emerged, as the possibility of a foreign-born Prime Minister caused many right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, who had lost the election, to agitate against Sonia (most notably, the now infamous threat, by former minister in the Vajpayee Government Sushma Swaraj, to shave her head and sleep on the floor if Sonia Gandhi became Prime Minister). They contended that she was not only a foreigner but also a person intent on saving Ottavio Quattorochi.

On May 18, a day before her scheduled inauguration, in a politically 'shrewd' move (as per her critics) or reasonable (as per her supporters) - to avoid the pain of another costly agitation and division of the nation based on ideology, she suggested economist Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's post. Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister in a previous Congress government headed by Rao and is considered by many as the Father of Indian Reforms. Moreover, the fact that he was not known to have any political ambitions and that he enjoyed a good rapport with Gandhi probably helped him to win the post. Gandhi retained the post of the Leader of the Majority and the Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. This arrangement enabled her to keep political control of the party and to deal with many political fire fights among UPA alliance while leaving the management of the country in hands of Manmohan Singh.

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Family

Despite her father's vehement opposition to her marriage to Rajiv, Sonia maintains close links with her family in Italy. Her son, Rahul Gandhi had also won election to the Parliament in 2004, and many consider him to be the natural heir to the reins of the party, and the next Congress leader to become Prime Minister. Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra did not contest elections, but is also often speculated about in the media. Sonia and her children are estranged from Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv's younger brother Sanjay and her son Varun, who are both members of the BJP.

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Literary contributions

Gandhi has authored two books: 'Rajiv' and 'Rajiv’s World'. In addition, she has also edited 'Freedom’s Daughter' and 'Two Alone, Two Together' (two volumes of letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi from 1922 to 1964).

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References

S. R. ET AL. BAKSHI (1998) Sonia Gandhi, The President of AICC South Asia Books. ISBN 8170249880
Rupa Chaterjee (1999) Sonia Gandhi: The Lady in Shadow Butala. ISBN 8187277025
C. Rupa, Rupa Chaterjee (2000) Sonia Mystique South Asia Books. ISBN 8185870241