Congress President Sonia Gandhi

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For Sonia Gandhi politics is not the means to attain power but a medium to serve the people. It became abundantly evident as she turned down the post of Prime Minister despite having led the UPA to victory in 2004 general elections. The movie on Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi covers all aspects of her life. Be it her political thought or career, marriage with Rajiv Gandhi, her emergence as an effective Congress leader, her love for India and her compassion for poor all of it is nicely strung together in the movie.
Welfare of the poor, underprivileged and the children has always been high on the Congress President’s agenda. A case in point – when a massive earthquake jolted Jammu and Kashmir she cancelled her other engagements in order to reach and console the victims without any delays. She was forthright in extending help and support to the affected people.
It was not a standalone case of compassion. Her life is replete of many such acts of kindness. She was deeply pained when the drastic Tsunami hit Indian coastal areas. Her concern for the aggrieved was also seen during the flood in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh or during the terrorist attack in Delhi or when a number of farmers were hurt in a police firing in Rajasthan.
While turning down the post of the Prime Minister she famously said – 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.
The Gandhi-Nehru family is known for the sacrifice they have made for the nation. They always found it supreme to serve the people and the country. The present Congress President Sonia Gandhi has proved on numerous occasions 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.
‘Thirty one years ago 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’, the statement shows her real love for India.
Sonia Gandhi suffered two heavy blows in her life. The first was the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then the sad and brutal assassination 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 acceded to join politics in 1997. In 1998 she was elected as the leader of the Congress Party. She proved herself as an efficient Parliamentarian and she took on NDA.
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 whirlwind 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 for the second term. 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 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 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.
Pandit Nehru dreamt about 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 leading India into becoming a strong and self reliant country.