Sonia Gandhi
President – Indian National Congress Party
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Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress Party which has
made a remarkable comeback in the recently concluded general elections for the 14th
Lok Sabha. She is the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee of the ruling United
Progressive Alliance. She has also been appointed as the Chairperson, National Advisory
Council, a government body set up to monitor the implementation of the National
Common Minimum Programme of the Union Government.
Sonia Gandhi spent most of her life largely as a private citizen, except for the years,
1984 to 1991, when her husband, Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister and leader of the
Opposition in the Lok Sabha. In response to widespread demands from the Congress
Party, Mrs Gandhi entered public life before the 1998 Lok Sabha election, when she
campaigned vigorously on behalf of the Party. She was elected as its Party President
in April 1998.
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Sonia Gandhi was first elected as a Member of Parliament to the 13th Lok Sabha from
the Amethi Parliamentary Constituency of Uttar Pradesh in 1999, getting 67% of the
polled votes. She has been elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from the Rae Bareily Constituency
of Uttar Pradesh. Mrs Gandhi , was born in Orbassano, Italy on December 9, 1946.
After her early education, she attended
an interpreter's school where she studied
English, French and Russian. This was followed by a two-year certificate course
in English language at Cambridge, UK. |
She married Rajiv Gandhi in 1968 and has lived in India ever since. She has a son,
Rahul, and a daughter, Priyanka.
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After the death of her husband in May 1991, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and its
associated think-tank, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies, was
set up.
As its Chairperson, she supervises the work of these institutions which
commemorate her husband's memory. She is also holding the following posts in the
institutions listed below: |
v Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust Chairperson
v Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund Chairperson
v Indian Council for Child Welfare Chairperson
v Kamla Nehru Memorial Hospital Society President
v Nehru Trust for Cambridge University Patron
v Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society Member
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She is a patron of the Round Square (International Group of Schools, based on the
educational principles of the late Dr Kurt Hahn), UK. She was a member of the International Advisory Group which was set up to mark the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations.
She has authored two books, Rajiv and Rajiv's World, and has edited two volumes
of letters exchanged between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi from 1922
to 1964, entitled Freedom's Daughter; and, Two Alone - Two Together.
Her interests include Indian hand-looms and handicrafts, as well as Indian contemporary,
classical and tribal art. She has a diploma in conservation of oil paintings from
the National Museum in
New Delhi.
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