New Delhi: Indian National Congress President Sonia Gandhi (Edvige Antonia Albina Màino) was born on December 9, 1946 in Lusiana, Italy. In 1965 she met Rajiv Gandhi in England, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi got married in 1968 following which they moved to India.
In 1983 Sonia Gandhi got the Indian citizenship. In 1984 she actively campaigned for Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi against Maneka Gandhi.
However, after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi (May, 1991) and her refusal to take charge, the party settled on the choice of PV Narasimha Rao who became its leader and subsequently the Prime Minister.
In 1997 she finally joined the Congress party as a primary member and in 1998 she became the chief of the party.
In 1999 Sonia Gandhi was elected as a Lok Sabha member from Amethi. In 2004 when the NDA was in power, she was elected as the Leader of the Opposition.
In 2004 she became the Chairperson of the UPA and was named the third most powerful women in the world by Forbes. Even though the UPA formed the government the same year, but due to opposition, Sonia Gandhi asked Manmohan Singh to take the seat of the Prime Minister.
In 2009 she was re-elected as Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress and Sonia Gandhi faced a major setback after the party lost the Assembly elections in four states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi in 2013. And ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it seems that she has decided to stay away from active politics possibly due to health issues.
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