Sonia Gandhi Biodata

Birth Name : Edvige Antonia Albina Maino

Date of birth : 09/12/1946

Place of birth : Ovassanjo, 80 km away from Turin, Italy

Political Entry : 1997

Sonia Gandhi's actual name is 'Edvige Antonia Albina Maino', born on 9 December 1946 at Ovassanjo, 80 km away from Turin, Italy. Sonia Gandhi is the President of Indian National Congress and the chair person of the UPA. She is the Spouse of former Prime Minister of India, 'Rajiv Gandhi' who belonged to the 'Nehru–Gandhi' family. The couple had two children, 'Rahul Gandhi' born in 1970 and 'Priyanka Vadra' born in 1972. Sonia joined in politics in 1997, in 1998, she was elected as President of the Congress. Sonia is the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947. Sonia done her Early education in a Roman Catholic school run by the Salesian Order. She attended an interpreter's school where she studied English, French and Russian. A two-year certificate course in English language at Cambridge, UK. She has a diploma in conservation of oil paintings from the National Museum in New Delhi. Sonia is Fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.

Awards

Honorary Doctorate (Literature) from University of Madras in 2008

Order of King Leopold from Government of Belgium in 2006

Honorary Doctorate from Brussels University in 2006

Child Hood & personal Life

Sonia was born to 'Stefano Eugene Main' and 'Paola Maino' at Lusiana, a little village 30 km from Vicenza in Veneto, Italy. Her father, Stefano Maino, was a building mason, who owned a small construction business in Orbassano. Stefano fought against the Soviet military alongside Hitler's Wehrmacht on the eastern front in World War II, he called himself a loyal supporter of Benito Mussolini and Italy's National Fascist Party. He died in 1983. Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.

In 1964, she went to study English at the Bell Educational Trust's language school in the city of Cambridge. She met 'Rajiv Gandhi', who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge in 1965 at a Greek restaurant while working there as a waitress to make ends meet. Sonia and 'Rajiv Gandhi' married in 1968, in a Hindu ceremony following which she moved into the house of her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The couple had two children, 'Rahul Gandhi' (born 1970) and 'Priyanka Vadra' (born 1972). Rajiv entered politics in 1982 after the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash on 23 June 1980, Sonia continued to focus on her family and avoided all contact with the public. 'Rahul' and 'Priyanka' became primary members of the 'Indian National Congress party'. While 'Priyanka' has so far restricted herself to organising her mother's election campaigns and taking care of Sonia's constituency, 'Rahul Gandhi' has gone on to take formal charge as General Secretary of the Congress Party. He is also currently head of the Indian Youth Congress.

Political Life

She joined the Congress Party as a primary member in the Calcutta Plenary Session in 1997 and became party leader in 1998. In May 1999, three senior leaders of the party 'Sharad Pawar', 'P. 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 an outpouring of support and the expulsion from the party of the three rebels who went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party. Within 62 days of joining as a primary member, she was offered the party President post which she accepted. She contested Lok Sabha elections from Bellary, Karnataka and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in 1999. In Bellary she defeated veteran BJP leader, 'Sushma Swaraj'. In 2004 and 2009, she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

Sonia Gandhi was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in the year 2004 and was ranked 6th in 2007. In 2010, Gandhi ranked as the ninth most powerful person on the planet by Forbes Magazine. She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007 and 2008. The British magazine New Statesman listed Sonia Gandhi at number 29th in their annual survey of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures" in the year 2010. 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. She also actively involved in framing policies like Mid-day meal scheme for the school children, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Anti Communalism Bill and Food security Bill. Sonia Gandhi is also keen to get the Women Reservation Bill implemented.