Gandhi, Sonia

▪ 1996

      Throughout 1995 a single question held out hope for—or haunted—political life in India: What would Sonia Gandhi choose to do? The Italian-born Sonia was the widow of one Indian prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi; daughter-in-law of another, Indira Gandhi; and granddaughter-in-law of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. When Rajiv was assassinated in 1991, Sonia was seen by many as the natural heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, and she was offered the leadership of the Congress (I) Party. The party's elders had concluded that the right to assume responsibility for the party—and by implication India—was hers. She rejected the offer and remained at home in New Delhi, seldom appearing in public and refusing to discuss politics publicly. She did not visit Rajiv's former constituency in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, until 1993—but the crowds cheered her. Subsequently, she traveled throughout the country on behalf of trusts and committees devoted to Indian public life.

      She was born Sonia Maino in northern Italy on Dec. 9, 1946. While studying in Cambridge, Eng., she met Rajiv Gandhi, a mechanical engineering student. They married in 1968 and lived at India's official residence, although Rajiv eschewed politics for a career as a commercial airline pilot. Sonia quickly adopted Indian ways and journeyed all over the country with Indira. She accepted her husband's entry into politics after the death of his brother, Sanjay, in 1980, and when Indira was assassinated in 1984, it was Sonia who rushed to her side. Though she campaigned for Rajiv during his years in politics, Sonia chose to remain in the background, studying art restoration and working to preserve India's artistic treasures.

      In May 1995 she finally broke her long silence and telephoned Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to urge him to allow two leading dissidents back into the party in time for the 1996 elections. In August she and her daughter, Priyanka, went to rural Amethi to dedicate a medical camp. There Sonia delivered an eight-minute address in which she praised Rajiv's dedication to the welfare of the people and expressed her anguish over the lack of progress into the investigation of his assassination. Resounding applause and shouts of antigovernment slogans greeted this apparent criticism of Rao's leadership: Sonia Gandhi had at last spoken out. Political commentators had a field day speculating on her talk and on her family's future, but at year's end the regal Sonia Gandhi was continuing to be as enigmatic as ever.

John Litweiler

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▪ Indian politician

original name  Edvige Antonia Albina Maino 

born Dec. 9, 1946, Orbassano, Italy

      Italian-born Indian politician who was president of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party; 1998– ) and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (2004– ), the ruling coalition.

      While studying English at the University of Cambridge, Sonia met Rajiv Gandhi (Gandhi, Rajiv), a mechanical engineering student and son of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Gandhi, Indira). The couple married in 1968 and moved into the prime minister's official residence, although Rajiv eschewed politics for a career as a commercial airline pilot. However, in 1980 his brother, Sanjay, died, and Rajiv subsequently entered the political arena. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, Rajiv was named prime minister. Though Sonia campaigned for Rajiv, she chose to remain in the background, studying art restoration and working to preserve India's artistic treasures.

      When Rajiv was assassinated in 1991, Sonia was seen by many as the natural heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, and she was offered the leadership of the Congress Party. She rejected the offer and refused to discuss politics publicly. In 1993, however, she visited Rajiv's former constituency in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, and was greeted by cheering crowds. She subsequently traveled throughout the country on behalf of trusts and committees devoted to Indian public life.

 In 1998 Gandhi agreed to become president of the then-struggling Congress Party. Her initial efforts were overshadowed by the party's loss to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the following election. Following a nationwide campaign that targeted struggling farmers and the unemployed, the Congress Party won the 2004 election but failed to secure an absolute majority. The party subsequently formed a new coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Gandhi, however, chose not to head the government as prime minister, because her foreign birth had become a politically controversial issue. Instead, she invited the economist Manmohan Singh (Singh, Manmohan) to serve as prime minister.

      In 2006 Gandhi resigned from the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament) and as chairperson of the National Advisory Council—which oversaw the implementation of UPA policies and provided a salary to Gandhi for her work—after accusations that she was breaking a law that banned members of parliament from holding an additional office for profit. She was reelected several months later, however. Her only son, Rahul Gandhi, was also a prominent politician.

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