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==External link== |
==External link== |
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* [http://www.soniagandhi.org Official site] |
* [http://www.soniagandhi.org Official site] |
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* [http://newindpress.com/column/Column.asp?ID=IEH20020904011659&P=old&By=S+Gurumurthy Ms Antonia Maino, Will you answer? Not your pack] |
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* [http://newindpress.com/column/Column.asp?ID=IEH20040414141711&P=old&By=S+Gurumurthy Sonia issue: look at China, Japan; not at the US] |
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* [http://newindpress.com/column/Column.asp?ID=IEU20040417041345&P=old&By=S+Gurumurthy Unmasking Sonia Gandhi] |
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* [http://newindpress.com/column/Column.asp?ID=IEH20040417012336&P=old&By=S+Gurumurthy ‘Your Prime Minister’s wife does not trust you, gets her security from Italians’] |
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* [http://newindpress.com/column/Column.asp?ID=IEU20040419143939&P=old&By=S+Gurumurthy Mr Poojary, thanks for confirming that she sought Italian security. But..] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 23:10, 13 May 2004
Sonia Gandhi (born December 9, 1946) is the president of the Indian National Congress in India and Leader of the Opposition. She is likely to become the next Prime Minister of India following her party's upset victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.
Born Sonia Maino in Orbassano (8 km from Turin, Italy), she met Rajiv Gandhi, who later became Prime Minister of India, while they were students at Cambridge University in England. They were married in 1968, after which she took up residence in India. She adopted Indian citizenship in 1983, 15 full years after her marriage to an Indian. This move was made by her in order that she may not harm the political aspirations of her husband, who was already the prime minister of India after the assasination of Indira Gandhi.
Gandhi did not enter politics until after her husband's assassination on May 21, 1991. Following his death, she received great pressure from the Congress party to enter politics, to continue the Congress Party's dynastic tradition of being led by a member of the Jawaharlal Nehru-Indira Gandhi family.
In 1998 she formally entered politics, assuming the helm of the decaying Congress party and declaring herself a candidate for Prime Minister. 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.
Her son Rahul Gandhi has entered politics and speculation is that her daughter Priyanka Gandhi will too.
External link
- Official site
- Ms Antonia Maino, Will you answer? Not your pack
- Sonia issue: look at China, Japan; not at the US
- Unmasking Sonia Gandhi
- ‘Your Prime Minister’s wife does not trust you, gets her security from Italians’
- Mr Poojary, thanks for confirming that she sought Italian security. But..
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