 Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (सोनिया गाँधी (born December 9, 1946), is an Indian politician and the president of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). Also, she is currently the chairwoman of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha. She is the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Born as Antonia Maino 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 learning 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. The name Sonia was given by her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi.She adopted Indian citizenship in 1983, fifteen years after her marriage to Rajiv, when, it is speculated, she realized that her husband's fortunes as Prime Minister might be affected by her Italian citizenship. The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born 1972).
Gandhi did not enter politics until after her husband's assassination on May 21, 1991. Following his death she was pressured by the Congress Party to enter politics and to continue the party's dynastic tradition of being led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
In 1998 she formally entered politics, assuming the helm of the Congress Party. Largely through her family name, she was able to draw large crowds and nearly single-handedly revitalized the party. However, she remained a somewhat enigmatic figure, and her opposition (chiefly the Bharatiya Janata Party) constantly played off the fact that she was foreign-born and was not a fluent Hindi speaker until she entered politics, frequently asserting that she had no qualifications other than her name.
By virtue of being an ex-prime minister's widow she was chosen to become the Leader of the Opposition (India) in the 13th Lok Sabha, and in the 2004 election launched an aggressive campaign to unseat the ruling NDA( National Democratic Alliance lead by BJP ). She had been tipped to be the next Prime Minister of India following her party's surprise victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. On May 16 she was unanimously voted to lead a 19-party coalition government which was subsequently named the United Progressive Alliance(UPA).
A storm of controversy had emerged following her party's victory, as the possibility of a foreign-born Prime Minister caused many (especially amongst the BJP's supporters) to agitate against Gandhi. However, on May 18, a day before her scheduled inauguration, she declined the Prime Minister's post, citing personal reasons. Gandhi instead nominated Manmohan Singh for the Prime Minister's post; he was eventually accepted by the lawmakers, despite pleas by members of the Congress party for Gandhi to reverse her decision. Gandhi instead took office as the Chairperson of the newly formed National Advisory Council with the status of a Cabinet Minister.
Another controversy is regarding her studies in Cambridge University. A section of the press projected her as having studied english literature at University of Cambridge but the facts were rather contrary.
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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