SONIA GANDHI

Early life Sonia Gandhi's birthplace, 31, Conrad Maine (Maine Street), Luciana, Italy (the house on the right) She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Conrad Mini ("Maine quarter/district"), at Lusiana,[10][11] a little village 30 km from Vicenza in Veneto,[12] Italy, where families with the family name "Mino" have been living for many generations.[13][14][15] She spent her adolescence in Orbassano,[16] a town near Turin, being raised in a traditional Roman Catholic family and attending a Catholic school. Her father, a building mason, died in 1983.[17] Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.[18] 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 Cambridgein 1965 at a Greek restaurant (the Varsity Restaurant) while working there as a waitress to make ends meet.[19][20] Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi married in 1968, following which she moved into the house of her mother-in-law and then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.[21]

The couple had two children, Rahul Gandhi (born 1970) and Priyanka Vadra (born 1972). Despite belonging to the influential Nehru family, Sonia and Rajiv avoided all involvement in politics. Rajiv worked as an airline pilot while Sonia took care of her family.[22] When Indira was ousted from office in 1977 in the aftermath of the Indian Emergency, the Rajiv family moved abroad for a short time.[citation needed] When 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.[23]

SONIAS SOFT LEADERSHIP QUALITIES Sonia is a cool thinker. She is against corruption and quick in making decisions especially against corrupt people irrespective of party affiliations. She proved herself more as a soft leader whiles her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi as a hard leader. Probably Sonia is a soft leader as she runs a coalition government which needs lot of balancing act. Sonia entered politics reluctantly like her husband late Rajiv Gandhi. She stood like a rock when her husband was assassinated. She brought her two children through right values and ethics. She did not get everything on platter in politics. She entered into the Congress party when it was getting disintegrated that too when the party was in opposition. She took the reins and rejuvenated the Congress party. Sonia surprised her critics by bringing Congress government back at the Centre through her soft and effective leadership skills and abilities. She flatly refused to become the Prime Minister of India when everything was easy for her. She surprised her critics and opponents by sacrificing power and installing a minority Sikh and a clean personality - Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Sonia is a strong woman with great character who means business. She has become the symbol of women leadership and a role model for Indian women. The future belongs to the soft leaders like Sonia Gandhi. it says something for Sonia Gandhi's tenacity and will power that she has reached the top in a strange country. A country that does not speak her language, is a world apart from her culture, and has entirely different social values and work ethics. She has become the longest serving Congress party member (over 10 years). When her husband died on that fateful day on 21st may, 1991 leaving her shattered, she had two kids from whom she could hardly seek solace. It was rather the other way round. That she stood the test of times and came out with flying colors is no small feat. Here is what we gather about her leadership qualities from her amazing ability to lead the ruling party: Stop-Gap to Permanency It has to be conceded that the Congress culture saw in her a stop-gap arrangement ready-made leader. It came to pass soon that she was here to stay and not about to go away, leaving the field open for others waiting in the wing. Undoubtedly, there were distracting elements within and outside the Congress. The opposition cried hoarse about dynastic policy which, had true angst and desperation written all over. In the Congress itself, voices were heard to mutter the impracticality of having a foreign citizen as the head of the party.

Rejuvenation of the Party Overcoming these real obstacles would not have been easy, were it not for the state of despair the party was in at the time. The party did not have a central leader to look up to. The morale of the party workers was down in the dumps. A much needed rejuvenation was instantly provided by Sonia Gandhi. Being elected as an MP was easy and she became the opposition leader. Style of Electioneering In 2004, the BJP wrongly believed its own slogan of "India shining" to be true and projected India almost as if it was a prosperous country. Sonia Gandhi, on the other hand, had her feet firmly on the ground. She electioneered throughout the country extensively, identifying herself with aam aadmi. No part in Government When she was offered the post of prime minister on the platter, she weighed the pros and cons and decided against accepting it, choosing instead to lead the party. The top economist Manmohan Singh was made the PM. An important laws enacted on her initiative was the national Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which provided succor for the poor of the country. Work for 100 days to the rural poor was guaranteed. Right to Information Act became a law by her insistence. Any citizen could get any information concerning the activities of the government by requesting for it.This Sonia Gandhi, a novice in 1991 is a seasoned politician providing a good leadership and hope for her party.