Congress President Sonia Gandhi has set the tone of
discussion for Congress’ Chintan Shivir that began in Jaipur on Friday. As the party
readies for the 2014 elections, Sonia Gandhi urged the Congress workers to take
stock of party’s strengths, weaknesses and threats and warned that the
middle-class, with which the party hopes to reconnect, is fed up with
corruption that they face in their daily lives.
"This is a phenomenon, a churning that we must
understand and continue to respond to. We cannot allow our growing educated and
middle classes to be disillusioned and alienated from the political
process," said Sonia Gandhi. She also pointed out that people were now
better informed and equipped than ever before and that their expectation from
their government had also grown. She reminded the younger Congressmen and
women, a big chunk of the 350 people invited, to be austere. An extravagant
show of money, she said, would lead to the question - where does the wealth
come from?
In her address, Sonia Gandhi talked about the Congress' nine
years of rule at the Centre and what it had gained and lost in that time. She
touched upon coalition politics, Indo-Pak relations, gender issues and crime
against women and corruption, and exhorted those gathered to "speak your
mind - as we are here on business that will determine our future".
That is an immediate
future, with General Elections due next year. "There is increased
competition and inroads have been made in our traditional strongholds. We have
to strike a fine balance between respecting alliances and ensuring rejuvenation
of the party," Mrs Gandhi said, adding: "We are the only pan Indian
party with a visible and viable position in every village. We articulate the
concerns of all, especially the weaker sections of the society. Inclusiveness
is anchored in our conviction, not the outcome of compulsion as it may be for
our opponents."
The Congress hopes to emerge from the two-day-long session
armed with strategy on, among other things, how to address an alienation from
the middle class, seen most recently when the government it leads was found
grossly inadequate in its response to spontaneous protests after the brutal
gang-rape and torture of a 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus in Delhi
last month.
Sonia Gandhi said, "Discrimination against the girl
child and atrocities against women are a blot on our collective conscience.
Sexual harassment, women trafficking and female foeticide should shake us and
awaken us...Gender issues are fundamental and the entire party must bring this
to the heart of political activity and change mindsets."
At a meeting on women's issues that she attended with son
Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi said gender sensitivity should begin at home.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has always been saying that
a country cannot develop if everyone in our society, including the poor,
downtrodden, tribals and underprivileged are not taking part in the process of
development. In all her campaigns and public addresses Sonia Gandhi did
underline this important aspect of development. Following her footsteps her son
and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka Gandhi
also highlighted this point on several occasions. Rahul Gandhi also argues that
till the development reaches the grass root, overall progress cannot be
attained.
Sonia Gandhi always raised the issue of suicides by farmers,
unavailability of Narmada water, pending electricity connections, un affordable
housing, health and education, all related to common man. Out of her extreme concern over the state of
affairs of the poor she had said, “Now they talk of filling all dams in
Saurashtra with Narmada water. What did they do in the past 10 years. Manmohan
Singh-led government has done everything to make sure project got implemented,
but the present state government failed to bring Narmada waters to Saurashtra,
which is shameful”. Sonia Gandhi was deeply saddened over the farmer’s
suicides. “Farmers have committed suicide. There is no water or electricity
available” she had said. The Saurashtra region, which has 52 Assembly seats,
saw a spate of suicides by farmers following poor monsoon this year. The
Congress had announced Rs 1 lakh compensation to kin of each of the deceased
farmers.
Similarly, earlier, Rahul Gandhi also had visited the
Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and had personally realized the hardships of
the people over there. After his successful intervention, the Congress-led
Centre had sanctioned a financial package for the relief of the people over
there.
Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi kick started the campaign for the Congress in poll bound Uttarakhand. She said that the present state Government has been betraying the people in the name of development. Sonia Gandhi also said that the natural treasures of Uttarakhand are being looted and the only way to prevent it is changing the present government. Taking a swap ay BJP she pointed out that by merely changing the Chief Minister won’t help as what we require is a change in the Government.
Sonia Gandhi said “For the past few years the ruling party (BJP) has been betraying the people of Uttarakhand. It tried to cover its dishonest face with mask of lies. But when the mask got unveiled they changed the Chief Minister. The truth is that though they changed the Chief Minister, nothing changed in Uttarakhand. The rampant loot and the cheating are still prevailing”.
“Only 10% of the people got the benefits of the Congress-led UPA Governments Mahatma Gandhi NREGA policy. Only 40% of the funds were utilized by the BJP Government. Unemployment has been increased. If we want to help the people of Uttarakhand, if you want to get your beautiful Uttarakhand back, if you want to protect your own rights, then only a CM-change won’t do, but the government needs to be changed. For that you will have to defeat the BJP in the coming elections and elect a Congress Government. I am confident about your support and I am sure that you will vote and elect a Congress Government” added Sonia Gandhi.
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Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has again decided not to celebrate her birthday. She politely requested the people not to come to Delhi spending huge amount of money to greet her on her birthday. At a time when political leaders spend hefty amounts for their birth day celebrations and other occasions, here comes a leader with difference who always found it improper to engage in unnecessary extravaganza.
For Sonia Gandhi politics is not power but a way to serve the people. That is what she proved when she refused the post of Prime Minister when UPA was voted to power. “I always listen to the voice of my inner conscience. I have said on many occasions that my target is not the Prime Ministership. Today my inner conscience tells me to politely refuse the post” was the statement by Sonia Gandhi when asked about her turning down the post of Prime Minister.
She was always concerned about the poor and underprivileged and the children. Their pain was her pain. When a massive earth quake jolted Jammu Kashmir, she took time to reach there without any delay to console the victims and extended all her help and support to help the affected people. She expressed her concern and pain when a drastic Tsunami hit Indian coastal areas. Her deep concern for the aggrieved was also seen during the flood in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Himachal and also during the terrorist attack in Delhi as well as when a number of farmers were hurt in a police firing in Rajasthan.
The Gandhi-Nehru family is known to the sacrifice for the nation. They always found it supreme to serve the people and the country. The present Congress President Sonia Gandhi proved that she also finds it important to serve the Nation than anything else. “Sacrifice for the nation is not the tradition of politics but it is the culture of our nation, the culture to serve the human kind” said Sonia Gandhi once.“31 years back I came to India as a bride of Rajiv Gandhi. And now I will spend my life till my last in this country and nobody can take away this right from me”. This shows her real passion towards India. Sonia Gandhi suffered two heavy blows in her life. The first was the assassination of her mother-in-law and late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then the sad and brutal killing of her husband and the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by the Tamil militants. Though she had accompanied Rajiv Gandhi in all his campaigns, she never took interest in the politics. Since Rajiv Gandhi's death, Sonia Gandhi led a life of near recluse for six years but for her appearances at a few official functions. But a number of Congress leaders and supporters looking for a charismatic personality to lead the party to electoral success kept sending their appeals to her to come and take over the party. The Congress faced a big electoral setback after the Narasimha Rao regime and many people had started to write-off the Congress. The pressure to revive Congress party started increasing. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997 and in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress. She proved herself as an efficient Parliamentarian and she took on NDA with her full strength.
Sonia Gandhi campaigned for the Congress in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Congress managed to get a tally of 141 seats, largely due to her charismatic presence during the campaign. Travelling the length and breadth of the country in a hurricane election tour, Sonia caught the imagination of the masses, by her emotional speeches. She was able to achieve an unexpected election success. The election results provided her with a unique opportunity to become India's Prime Minister. She sacrificed the post in favour of Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Under her leadership, India returned the Congress-led-UPA to a near majority in the 2009 general elections with Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. The Congress itself won 206 Lok Sabha seats, which was the highest total by any party since 1991. She was instrumental in framing a Common Minimum Program when UPA was formed the Government. She knew very well how to run a coalition Government better. 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. She also intervened effectively to break the logjam in the FDI retail decision of the UPA Government by suggesting a solution to discuss with all the states and concerned people before going ahead with the same.
Pt. Nehru dreamt a progressive Nation, Indira Gandhi took his dream forward, Rajiv Gandhi put the country among the top nations in the world and today Sonia Gandhi has also been contributing high to make a strong and self reliant India.
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"The Congress is unique. Our uniqueness arises from several basic features of the Congress s history, its character, its ideology and the legacy of its leadership. I am convinced that the time is ripe for a massive renaissance of our political culture so that we build that society which combines compassion with competence, equity with excellence."
Childhood
Sonia Gandhi is the President of Indian National Congress and the chair person of the UPA. Born on Dec. 9, 1946, she was elected as Congress President on 28th May 2005 by overwhelming support from across the country. She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in contra MÃ ini ("Maini street") in Lusiana, a little village 30 km from Vicenza in the region of Veneto, Italy. She spent her adolescence in Orbassano, a town near Turin, being raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building contractor, died in 1983. Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.
Study
In 1964, she went to study English at the Bell Educational Trust's language school in the city of Cambridge. Sonia met Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge during 1960s when the former Prime Minister was studying at the famous British University. They were married in 1968. The wedding was a simple nondenominational ceremony in the garden of 1, Safdarjang Road. The new addition to the family became an instant favourite. Sonia and Indira became extremely fond of each other. The couple has two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Gandhi (born 1972).
“I came to relish the flavours of India's many cuisines, to feel comfortable in Indian clothes, to speak Hindi and acquaint myself with the cultural heritage of my new homeland. The glorious and multi-hued palette of India came to be as dear and precious to me as it was to them (Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi)”. These words from Sonia Gandhi clearly highlight her passion and love towards India.
Political career
Since Rajiv Gandhi's death, Sonia Gandhi led a life of near recluse for six years but for her appearances at a few official functions. But a number of Congress leaders and supporters looking for a charismatic personality to lead the party to electoral success kept sending their appeals to her to come and take over the party. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997 and in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress. Since then, she has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party. She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party. On the duty of a politician, Sonia Gandhi always believed and says “I believe that while remaining representative of all interests, politics has a particular duty to those in need. As a politician in a country where many still live in poverty, it is my obligation and my responsibility to strive to empower the poor and the vulnerable. At times, this means being willing to fight entrenched social injustice. Indeed, the Indian, so long disempowered by poverty, has a greater claim on the fruits of our growing prosperity. To eradicate poverty, inequality and injustice from our society is an enormous task and it does remain our motivating goal. There are some who argue that faster growth will in the long run solve problems of social inequality and poverty and narrow the gap between rich and the poor. My aim in politics has always been to do whatever I can in my own way to defend the secular, democratic foundations of our country and to address the concerns and aspirations of the many whose voice often remains unheard”.
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 Congress President
Sonia Gandhi campaigned for the Congress in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Congress managed to get a tally of 141 seats, largely due to her charismatic presence during the campaign. Travelling the length and breadth of the country in a hurricane election tour, Sonia caught the imagination of the masses, by her emotional speeches. She was able to achieve an unexpected election success. 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. The election results provided her with a unique opportunity to become India's Prime Minister. She sacrificed the post in favour of Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Sonia Gandhi is the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC). Sonia Gandhi had announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and also as chairperson of the National Advisory Council under the office-of-profit controversy and the speculation that the government was planning to bring an ordinance to exempt the post of chairperson of National Advisory Council from the purview of office of profit. She was re-elected from her constituency Rae Bareilly in May 2006 by a huge margin of over 400,000 votes. She addressed the United Nations on 2 October 2007, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary which is observed as the international day of non-violence after a UN resolution passed on 15 July 2007. Under her leadership, India returned the Congress-led-UPA to a near majority in the 2009 general elections with Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister. The Congress itself won 206 Lok Sabha seats, which was the highest total by any party since 1991.Sonia Gandhi advocated austerity for all the congress MPs and set an example by travelling in economy class on her 14 September 2009 travel from New Delhi to Mumbai. She saved Rs 10,000. She also advocated for contribution of 20% of MPs salary for the drought affected victims in India.
As UPA Chairperson
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.
Literary works
Sonia Gandhi has published two books about her late husband, “Rajiv” and “Rajiv`s World”, and edited two volumes of letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi from 1922 to 1964, “Freedom`s Daughter and Two Alone”, “Two Together”. Her other interests include reading Indian contemporary, classical and tribal art, Indian handlooms and handicrafts and, both folk and classical music. She has a diploma in conservation of oil paintings from the National Museum in New Delhi.
Congress (I) President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has sought cooperation of the opposition parties in passage of effective Lokpal Bill by allowing the Parliament to function without any disruption.She said her Congress (I) government has been taking suitable steps to tackle the ‘plague’ of corruption. “The RTI which our government brought-in, has placed in the hands of the people a powerful weapon against corruption.Together with an effective Lokpal Bill, the government is working on a variety of legislations, which will systematically fight corruption. I hope that the opposition will support us in passing these important measures," she added. But opposition is up to its old game of not allowing the Parliament to function. It is neither the stage for Anna Hazare to approve or disapprove the Bill nor corruption the sole issue before the country. So opposition parties ought to cooperate, as requested by Sonia Gandhi, in proceedings of Parliament so that passage of Lokpal Bill is achieved, said Congress (I).
