Sonia Gandhi

Italian-Indian political wife. The daughter of an industrialist in Turin, straightforward, intelligent and something of an introvert, she met Rajiv Gandhi when they were both students at Cambridge University. It was love at first sight and they married on 2/25/68 in New Delhi. Their son Rahul was born in 1971 and daughter Priyanka in 1972. Sonia was reared in a rigidly traditional household in a small industrial town in northern Italy. She and her two sisters were not allowed to date boys unchaperoned. Yet, when she was 18, she was allowed to go to a language school in Cambridge. In January 1965, she met 20-year-old Rajiv while having lunch with a friend. In spite of their language barrier, their attraction was mutual, intense and permanent. A friend described their relationship as "an overwhelming love story" up to the time of Rajivs death. After they married, Sonia moved to the family home in New Delhi where the different generations lived and ate their meals together. Sonia was content to play the role of the faithful daughter-in-law, the "bahu," running the household, buying clothes for Indira and putting up with Sanjays temper tantrums. Though her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, did not approve of her son marrying an Italian, they later became close. Sonia became an Indian citizen on 10/28/1983, giving up her Italian citizenship. Articulate in six languages, she became adept at grass-roots campaigns, feeling that the Indians were her family. Though the household was dominated by politics, Rajiv and Sonia led an apolitical life and avoided the more glamorous end of New Delhi society. Rajiv worked as a pilot for the notoriously incompetent Indian Airlines, where he became known as a stickler for efficiency. When Sanjay died in an air crash in 1980, Rajiv reluctantly had the family destiny thrust upon him though Sonia fought like a tigress to dissuade him from entering politics. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 10/31/1984, Rajiv stepped immediately into her shoes as P.M. As the new P.M., Rajiv was optimistic, though utterly unqualified for the job. After Indira Gandhi died on 10/31/1984, it took Sonia literally years to come to terms with the horror of the assassination. She avoided seeing people and often fell silent for long periods. Taking up art restoration as a hobby, she edited the correspondence between Indira and Nehru in two volumes. On 5/21/1991, suddenly and violently, her husband was assassinated. Sonia was offered the post of Party President within 24 hours of her husbands death but she refused due to her dislike of publicity or the limelight and her fear of exposing her family to further risks. She retreated into herself, drawing consolation from her children and her home, which became a shrine to her beloved martyred husband. Her circle became small and closed and she made few public appearances. Her private secretary, Vincent George, became her spokesman. In 1997 she quietly became a member of the Congress Party. Her position is aided by the fact that she looks much like the Nehrus, who are high-caste North Indians, with her dark hair and brown skin. After her husbands death she dedicated her life to raising her son, now 27, and daughter, 26, and to running foundations. She finally agreed to enter politics when party leaders assured her that a "working" president of her choice would take care of day-to-day party work. The election was like no other country had ever seen. There were Read less