Sonia Gandhi’s journey from Italy to India’s most powerful politician | Documentary by Anurag Sason
Sonia Gandhi documentary: Sonia Gandhi is one such politician in modern Indian political history who has had a tremendous influence on the country’s politics, even without becoming Prime Minister. A lady who left her country, Italy, to permanently settle in India, witnessed the deaths of her brother-in-law, Sanjay Gandhi; her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi; and her husband, Rajiv Gandhi, and is still standing strong and commanding respect in the hearts of millions of people.
The longest-serving president of the Congress party, she, on May 18, 2004, listening to her “inner voice”, rejected the post of Prime Minister of India when it was just one step away.
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Sonia Gandhi’s innings in Congress
Sonia Gandhi (79) took over as the party leader in 1998, seven years after the assassination of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. She remained in office until 2017. In total, she served for twenty-two years. In 2019, she returned to the post as interim president and remained the president for another three years until 2022.
How Sonia Gandhi revived Congress?
In 1998, when Sonia Gandhi took charge of the Congress, the grand old party was going through a tough phase. It had lost much of its political ground, while the BJP was emerging as a major national force.
Her initial years as party president were not easy. In 1999, senior Congress leaders Sharad Pawar, P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar questioned her foreign origin and eventually left Congress and formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The 1999 Lok Sabha election brought another setback, with Congress winning just 114 seats, and the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returning to power under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
However, Sonia Gandhi gradually changed Congress’ political strategy. The party developed a growing willingness to work with regional parties. Congress began building alliances with parties in different states.
Ahead of the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, Sonia Gandhi played an important role in bringing together several parties against the saffron party (BJP)-led NDA. Her efforts bore fruit, and despite the BJP’s high-profile “India Shining” campaign, Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. It won 145 seats, compared with the BJP’s 138. With the support of its allies, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) took the political reins of the country.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? WATCH FULL DOCUMENTARY ON SONIA GANDHI BY JOURNALIST ANURAG SASON
About the author: Anurag Sason is an Indian journalist with experience in mainstream journalism. He has worked in newspaper, news agency, TV, news app (short video sharing app) and digital media. He tweets at @AnuragSason
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