Sonia Gandhi

Sonia Gandhi
Member of Parliament for Rae Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
Incumbent
Assumed office  2006
Preceded by	self
In office 1999 – 23 March 2006
Succeeded by	self
Born	9 December 1946 (1946-12-09) (age 62) Lusiana, Veneto, Italy
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Rajiv Gandhi (1969-1991)
Children	Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi
Residence	10 Janpath, New Delhi, India
Religion	Christianity (Roman Catholic)
As of 4 July, 2006 Source: Sonia Gandhi's unofficial website

Sonia Gandhi (born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino^[1] on 9 December 1946) is the Italian-born President of the Indian National Congress and the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. She also serves as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha and the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

An influential person in Indian politics, she was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in the year 2004^[2] and was ranked 6th in 2007.^[3] She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007^[4] and 2008.^[5]

Following the office of profit controversy, she had to surrender her membership to the Indian parliament but in 2007, she returned to the Lok Sabha after winning the by-election for Rae Bareilly by a margin of over 400,000 votes.^[6]

Early life

Born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Lusiana, a little village 20 km from Vicenza in the region of Venetia, Italy, she spent her adolescence in Orbassano, a town near Turin being raised in a Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building contractor, and former Fascist soldier, 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. While enrolled in this certificate course she met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled at the time in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi married in 1969, following which she moved into the house of her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.^[9]

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.^[10] When Indira was ousted from office in 1977 in the aftermath of the Indian Emergency, the Rajiv family moved abroad for a short time. When Rajiv entered politics in 1982 after the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash in 1980, Sonia continued to focus on her family and avoided all contact with public.^[11] She acquired Indian citizenship in 1983^[12] after 14 years of her marriage.^[13]

Political career

Wife of the Prime Minister

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. In 1984, she actively campaigned against her 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. ^[14]

Congress President

With then President of Russia Vladimir Putin during his State visit on 4 October 2000.

Following her husband's assassination on 21 May 1991, there was tremendous pressure on her to accept the leadership of the party. However, Sonia refused and was vehement in her denunciation of politics and politicians. She is said to have stated that she would have rather seen her children beg than enter into the maelstrom of Indian political life.^[15] After her refusal, 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 Scindia, Rajesh Pilot, 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^[16].

Within 62 days of joining of a primary member, she became the party president. She contested Loksabha elections from Bellary, Karnataka and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in 1999. She won both the seats. In Bellary she defeated veteran BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj. In 2004, she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rai Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.

Leader of the Opposition

Sonia Gandhi with Bill Clinton during his visit in 2000

She was elected the Leader of the Opposition of the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999.

Despite her party not having a majority, she made the claim to the President that she had the numbers to form the government. However, the final numbers fell short of the halfway mark of 272.^[17] When the BJP-led NDA formed a government under Atal Behari Vajpayee, she took on the office of the Leader of Opposition. As Leader of Opposition, she called a no-confidence motion against the NDA government led by Vajpayee in 2003.

She holds the record of having served as Congress President for 10 years consecutively.

2004 elections and aftermath

In the 2004 general elections, Gandhi launched a nationwide campaign, criss-crossing the country on the Aam Aadmi (ordinary man) slogan in contrast to the 'India Shining' slogan of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance. She countered the BJP asking "Who is India Shining for?" In the election, she won by a large margin in the Rae Bareilly constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Following the unexpected defeat of the NDA, she was widely expected to be the next Prime Minister of India. On 16 May, she was unanimously chosen to lead a 15-party coalition government with the support of the left, which was subsequently named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

After the election result, the defeated NDA protested once again her 'foreign origin' and senior NDA leader Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave her head and "sleep on the ground", among other things, should Sonia become prime minister ^[18]. The NDA also claimed that there were legal reasons that barred her from the Prime Minister's post, and, indeed, from Parliament.^[19] They pointed, in particular, to Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955, which they claimed implied 'reciprocity'. This was contested by others^[20] and eventually the suits were dismissed by the Supreme Court of India.

A few days after the election, Gandhi declined the leadership of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Lok Sabha, and by doing so, rejected the post as prime minister. Her supporters and some in the media compared it to the old Indian tradition of renunciation^[21], while her opponents attacked it as a political stunt. If she had accepted the post, she would have been India's first Roman Catholic prime minister^[22].

There were also reports suggesting that if Sonia Gandhi held the Prime Minister's office, in the case of a war or emergency, the army general could use his right of rejecting her orders, since she is a person of non Indian origin. However, based upon Section 7 of Indian Parliament Act of 1953, it was later clarified that such reports were untrue. Had Sonia Gandhi been a person of Indian origin, it would not have made any difference to her legislative powers defined under the Indian constitution.

The Congress registered wins in states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Assam under her Presidency. There were losses when it lost in 11 states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka in the same period.

UPA Chairperson

On 18 May, she recommended noted economist Dr. Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's post.

On 23 March 2006, Gandhi announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and also as chairperson of the National Advisory Council under the office-of-profit controversy and the speculation that the government was planning to bring an ordinance to exempt the post of chairperson of National Advisory Council from the purview of office of profit. She was re-elected from her constituency Rae Bareilly in May 2006 by a huge margin of over 400,000 votes.

As chairperson of the National Advisory Committee and the UPA chairperson, she played an important role in making the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act into law.^[23][24]

She addressed the United Nations on 2 October 2007, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary which is observed as the International day of non-violence after a UN resolution passed on 15 July 2007^[25].

Criticism

Gandhi's foreign birth has sparked intense debate and opposition^[26][27][18]. Although Sonia Gandhi is actually the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947 ^[28].

There has also been opposition from within the Congress Party, however. In May 1999, three senior leaders of the party (Sharad Pawar, Purno A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar) challenged her right to try to become India's Prime Minister because of her foreign origins. In response, she offered to resign as party leader, resulting in a massive outpouring of support and the resignation from the party of the three rebels who would go on to form the Nationalist Congress Party ^[29].

Personal life

Her son, Rahul Gandhi, was elected to Parliament from the Amethi constituency (UP) in 2004. Priyanka Gandhi has not stood for office, though she has worked as a Congress campaign manager. There has been considerable media speculation about their future in the Congress.

Sonia and her children are estranged from Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv's younger brother Sanjay Gandhi, and her son Varun Gandhi, who are both members of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Bibliography

Gandhi has published two books about her late husband, Rajiv and Rajiv's World; and edited two volumes of letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi from 1922 to 1964, Freedom's Daughter and Two Alone, Two Together.

Notes

References

• S. R. ET AL. BAKSHI (1998) Sonia Gandhi, The President of AICC South Asia Books. ISBN 81-7024-988-0
• Rupa Chaterjee (1999) Sonia Gandhi: The Lady in Shadow Butala. ISBN 81-87277-02-5
• C. Rupa, Rupa Chaterjee (2000) Sonia Mystique South Asia Books. ISBN 81-85870-24-1

See also

• Political Families of The World
• List of Italians

External links

Official websites

• Sonia Gandhi comprehensive website
• Indian National Congress

Others

• Profile by BBC News dated 23 March 2006