Antonio Maino, the former name of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi was born on the 9th December 1946 to parents Stefano and Paola Maino in Lusiana, Italy. The little girl who played in the fields of Turin would later go onto handle the oldest political party of the biggest democracy in the world.
Early Life in Italy
Raised in a traditional Catholic way in the town of Turin, she studied as much as it was necessary as per her teachers. Father Stefano was a mason who had established a little construction business. Prior to that, Stefano was a prisoner of war in Russia following the Second World War. He was a loyal supporter of the Italian Fascist leader Mussolini. The house would be filled with books about the leader. He named his kids Sonia and Nadia in the memory of the Italian participation in the eastern front.
Meeting with Rajiv Gandhi
Aspiring to become a flight attendant, Sonia Maino enrolled herself at the Bell Educational Trust to study the English language at the city of Cambridge. In 1965, a year after she enrolled in the course, she met Rajiv Gandhi who had enrolled for an engineering course at the University of Cambridge. They met at the Varsity rooftop bar where she worked as a bar attendant. The couple later got married in 1968 in a Hindu ceremony after which they moved into the house of then, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Despite hailing from the political royalty, Sonia and Rajiv kept a distance from politics. Rajiv worked as a pilot and Sonia looked after the family post the birth of two children – Rahul and Priyanka. After the death of his brother Sanjay in a plane crash and during the aftermath of Emergency, Rajiv entered politics in 1982. Even then, Sonia kept herself away from politics until her husband became the Prime Minister.
Political Career
After proclaiming Indian citizenship in 1983, she actively participated in politics as she campaigned against Maneka Gandhi who was contested against Rajiv at Amethi. After the assassination of Rajiv, the party offered her the position of the President of the party which she refused. Narasimha Rao was made the President and later went onto becoming the Prime Minister.
After the party drifted post the 1996 elections as several senior leaders revolted against the incumbent, Gandhi joined the party as a primary member in an effort to revive the party. In 1998, she became the leader of the party. In 1999, when senior leaders questioned her foreign origins and her right to run for the Prime Minister position, she offered to resign but due to overwhelming support to her, the senior leaders were expelled instead.
Sonia Gandhi first contested election in 1999 from Bellary and Amethi where she won both the seats but chose to represent Amethi. In Bellary, she defeated the BJP leader Sushma Swaraj. In 2004 and 2009, Sonia led the party to form governments at the center. She is often reminded of her past as opposition mentions her name as Antonio Maino years after her change of name.
Source: Wikipedia
