Part of a series on
Hindu scriptures
Vedas
Rigveda · Samaveda Yajurveda · Atharvaveda Divisions Samhita · Brahmana Aranyaka · Upanishads
Vedangas
Shiksha · Chandas Vyakarana · Nirukta Kalpa · Jyotisha
Upanishads
Rig vedic Aitareya Yajur vedic Brihadaranyaka · Isha Taittiriya · Katha Shvetashvatara Sama vedic Chandogya · Kena Atharva vedic Mundaka · Mandukya Prashna
Puranas
Brahma puranas Brahma · Brahmānda Brahmavaivarta Markandeya · Bhavishya Vaishnava puranas Vishnu · Bhagavata Naradeya · Garuda · Padma · Agni Shaiva puranas Shiva · Linga Skanda · Vayu
Itihasa
Ramayana Mahabharata (Bhagavad Gita)
Other scriptures
Manu Smriti Artha Shastra · Agama Tantra · Sūtra · Stotra Dharmashastra Divya Prabandha Tevaram Ramcharitmanas Yoga Vasistha
Scripture classification
Śruti · Smriti
Timeline
Hindu texts
v t e

Smriti (Sanskrit: स्मृति, Smṛti, IPA: [s̪mr̩.t̪i] ^?) literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hindu religious scripture, and is a codified component of Hindu customary law. Smṛti also denotes non-Śruti texts^[1] and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Śruti. The literature which comprises the Smrti was composed after the Vedas around 500 BCE. Smrti also denotes tradition in the sense that it portrays the traditions of the rules on dharma, especially those of lawful virtuous persons. This is understood by looking at traditional texts, such as the Ramayana, in which the traditions of the main characters portray a strict adherence to or observance of dharma (the same however need to be understood as experiences rather than binary haves or have-nots).^[2]

Role of Smriti within Hindu law[link]

Smriti is the second source of authority for dharma. The first source of dharma is Sruti: the Vedas or Revelation. With regards to Hindu law, scholars have commonly translated Smriti as “tradition”. Although Smriti is also considered a written source; it differs from Sruti in that Smriti does not have divine origins. Smriti’s literal translation, “to remember” explains this. In a sense, Smriti consists of the memories of wisdom that sages have passed on to their disciples. These memories consist of traditions. It is these memories that make up the second source of dharma and consequently have been recorded to become a written source; commentaries such as Laws of Manu, for example. The Smrti texts have become a binding of “sacred literature” which includes the six Vedangas, the Ithihasas : the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as, the Puranas ^[3] It is within all of these works that the rules of dharma remain and are passed down. However, Smriti is still only considered a second authority after Sruti and becomes relevant only when Sruti provides no answer.

• There are two important sides of Smriti: Smriti as Tradition and Smriti as Texts. Smriti as Tradition consists of Smriti as memories. It is from these memories that the rules of dharma are preserved and passed down. Conversely, Smriti as Texts refers to the notion of Traditional Texts. These consists of mostly the dharmasastras and are described as literature which has been “inspired by the smrti”.^[4]

Smriti as Tradition[link]

The history of smrti begins around 500 BCE. Some scholars argue that the original meaning of smrti differs from the medieval Sanskrit commentators’ understanding of smrti. This is understood by looking at passages where the word smriti appears. It is from the context in which the word is used that scholars find evidence for a switch in the meaning and understanding of the term. The present general understanding of smrti consists of non-Vedic literatures that portray the rules of dharma; for example, the Dharmasastra, Itihasa, and Purana. Some scholars argue that this general understanding is inaccurate.^[5] The view of Smriti as literature, specifically that of Dharmasastra texts, has created this notion of Smriti as Traditional texts. However, some scholars argue that the original meaning of Smriti was used to refer to tradition in its simplest understanding and not to texts.^[6] This process looks at the textualization of tradition and examines passages where smrti refers to literature in contrast to passages where there are no connections between smrti and literature. The earliest texts where the term smriti is used are also examined. By a process of looking at the context of what is being stated within the passage, a scholar is able to better derive the correct definition. Scholars also argue about Smriti in terms of it meaning “specifically ‘Brahmanical tradition’”.^[7]

Smriti as Texts[link]

The smṛtis are metrical texts. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of texts that fall into this category and it is remarkable how consistent the topics and reasoning used in these texts are. Though the smṛti texts acknowledge variability in regional religious and legal practices, their principal concern is to explain dharma. This unity of purpose led to a standardization of topics dealt with by the texts, even though the texts still exhibit differences between them. Whether these differences can be attributed to differences in the provenance or time period of the texts, to ideological or other disagreements between authors, or to some other factor is an issue open to debate.

The most famous and the earliest known smṛti text is the Laws of Manu, which dates to approximately the first century AD. The Laws of Manu, or Mānavadharmaśāstra, has recently been critically edited and translated by Patrick Olivelle (2004, 2005). His introduction and translation are perhaps the best starting points for understanding the nature of Dharmaśāstra and its contents. A major piece of the Hindu law tradition is, however, not represented in the main body of this translation, but rather in its footnotes – namely, the commentarial or scholastic tradition that took texts like the Laws of Manu and explained and elaborated upon them in an unbroken tradition that extended at least up to the time of the British and in some ways beyond. Similar to other scholastic traditions of religious law, the Dharmaśāstra commentators' first concern was to explain the sacred legal texts precisely, with careful attention to word meanings, grammatical structures, and principles of legal hermeneutics.

Styles of Memorization[link]

Prodigious energy was expended by ancient Indian culture in ensuring that these texts were transmitted from generation to generation with inordinate fidelity.^[8] For example, memorization of the sacred Vedas included up to eleven forms of recitation of the same text. The texts were subsequently "proof-read" by comparing the different recited versions.

• Forms of recitation included the jaṭā-pāṭha (literally "mesh recitation") in which every two adjacent words in the text were first recited in their original order, then repeated in the reverse order, and finally repeated again in the original order.^[9] The recitation thus proceeded as:

• In another form of recitation, dhvaja-pāṭha^[9] (literally "flag recitation") a sequence of N words were recited (and memorized) by pairing the first two and last two words and then proceeding as:

• The most complex form of recitation, ghana-pāṭha (literally "dense recitation"), according to (Filliozat 2004, p. 139), took the form:

That these methods have been effective, is testified to by the preservation of the most ancient Indian religious text, the Ṛgveda (ca. 1500 BCE), as a single text, without any variant readings.^[9] Similar methods were used for memorizing mathematical texts, whose transmission remained exclusively oral until the end of the Vedic period (ca. 500 BCE).

See also[link]

• Smarta
• Śruti
• Yuga Dharma

Notes[link]

References[link]

1. Brick, David. “Transforming Tradition into Texts: The Early Development of Smrti.” ‘‘Journal of Indian Philosophy’’ 34.3 (2006): 287–302.
2. Davis, Jr. Donald R. Forthcoming. The Spirit of Hindu Law.
3. Filliozat, Pierre-Sylvain (2004), "Ancient Sanskrit Mathematics: An Oral Tradition and a Written Literature", in Chemla, Karine; Cohen, Robert S.; Renn, Jürgen et al., History of Science, History of Text (Boston Series in the Philosophy of Science), Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 254 pages, pp. 137-157, pp. 360–375, ISBN 9781402023200, http://www.springerlink.com/content/x0000788497q4858/ 
4. Lingat, Robert. 1973. The Classical Law of India. Trans. J. Duncan M. Derrett. Berkeley: University of California Press.
5. Rocher, Ludo. “Hindu Conceptions of Law.” ‘‘Hastings Law Journal’’ 29.6 (1978): 1284–1305.
6. Staal, Frits (1986), The Fidelity of Oral Tradition and the Origins of Science, Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie von Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde, NS 49, 8. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company, 40 pages 

External links[link]

• Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
• Sanskrit site with comprehensive library of texts
• Smriti on Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

v t e Hindu deities and texts Gods Deva Ganesha Brahma Vishnu Shiva Rama Krishna Murugan Hanuman Indra Surya more Goddesses Adi parashakti Devi Saraswati Lakshmi Sati Parvati Durga Shakti Kali Sita Radha Mahavidya Navadurga Matrikas more Texts Vedas Upanishads Puranas Ramayana Mahabharata Bhagavad Gita more Hinduism Hindu mythology

Sanjay Nirupam
Member of parliament
Constituency	Mumbai North
Personal details
Born	(1965-02-06) 6 February 1965 (age 47)[1] Rohtas, Bihar, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Geeta Nirupam
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Religion	Hindu

Shree Sanjay Nirupam is a third time Member of Indian Parliament. He has served two terms as a nominated MP in the Rajya Sabha first of which was as a Shiv Sena member and the second as a Congress party member. He now represents North Mumbai as an elected Congress member in the Lok Sabha. He is the Secretary of AICC and also Secretary-in-Charge of the Karnataka. He is one of the National spokespersons of the Congress Party to express the Party's view on different issues. He is a member of Parliamentary Committees like Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Energy Committee.

Early life[link]

He was born in the village of Rohtas in Bihar. After completing his schooling in Rohtas, he moved to Patna in 1980 for higher Studies. During this time he took keen interest in active politics & extra circular activities along with completing his graduation (1984) with Honors in Arts, Political Science. He was earlier associated with Shiv Sena.

Career[link]

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (December 2011)

After completing his schooling in Rohtas, he moved to Patna in 1980 for higher Studies. During this time he took keen interest in active politics & extra circular activities along with completing his graduation (1984) with Honors in Arts, Political Science.

With a burning desire to work for the interest of common man, he moved to New Delhi in 1986 and started his career as a journalist.

In 1988, he accepted an offer from “Indian Express Group” a sister publication of Indian Express which made him move to Mumbai.

Parliament history shows that he always stood for masses selflessly & fought for the Public issues on the floor of the parliament. Such as the UTI Scam in which the then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee offered his Resignation to scuttle the whole controversy, Stock Market Scam in which Crores of small investors lost their money. He was against the irrational and blatant disinvestment & privatization policy which was heavily pushed by the then NDA Govt. At that point of time his view was that it would lead to the further pauperization of the Indian labor forces, repercussions of which are seen now. He was also vocal against the Naxalite violence gripping the country in most states. He also showed his concerns on the effect of globalization and liberalization on the farmers and the Indian domestic industry.

He was the first person to highlight the irregularity of the sale of Centaur hotel & fought for the rights of the employees. He also vociferously exposed the deal in Parliament & asked for the clarification from Mr.Arun Shourie (the then Disinvestment Minister) who was caught on the back foot. Eventually he demanded for CBI Probe for the transparency on the whole deal which was accepted by the UPA govt. after 2 years.

In April 2005, he joined Congress to work for righteous ideology as a Spokesperson. In a very short span of time Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi appointed him as the General Secretary of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee [MPCC] the State Unit of the Congress party. He effectively worked as an election observer on behalf of All India Congress Committee [AICC] in three states Goa, Gujarat & Nagaland. As a party election observer he was assigned to organize a party rally and a road show of Shri. Rahul Gandhi.

He has been and is working on various social issues (education, poverty, employment generation, development etc.) in his constituency for the down trodden. Free eye camps, youth development programs, tree-plantation, Durga pooja, Dahi Handi, Maharashtra Day etc. are the various events he organizes to bring together different communities & culture.

Since last 10 years he has been organizing Wrestling Tournament with top ranked wrestlers at international level.

As Indian Express once wrote- “He is the one who introduced Chhath Puja to the city of Mumbai which became a part of the festival calendar of Mumbai over a period of time.”

To say the least he is always and easily accessible to common man through various social networking sites, meetings and his “Jan-Sampark” office at Borivali.

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Mumbai North MP Sanjay Nirupam has a decent fund utilisation of 82 per cent" - www.indianexpress.com Tue Jun 28 2011, 00:42 hrs

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

Sakshi Tanwar
Born	(1973-01-12) 12 January 1973 (age 39) Alwar, Rajasthan, India
Residence	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Model , Actress , Television Presenter
Years active	1996–Present
Religion	Hinduism
Parents	Father: Rajendra Singh Tanwar

Sakshi Tanwar (born 12 January 1973) is an Indian television and Bollywood actress. She is best known for playing the role of Parvati in the television soap opera, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii (Translated literally as "The Story of Every Home").^[1] Sakshi is one of the leading ladies of Indian Television. Sakshi's consequent continued patronage of the largely female audience of the show had been instrumental in changing the fortunes of the production house Balaji Telefilms and in creating a successful genre of tearjerker family dramas, which still continues in the Indian TV industry.^[1] The serial enjoyed tremendous popularity in India and abroad.

Early life[link]

Sakshi Tanwar was born in a middle class family from Alwar, Rajasthan. Her father Rajendra Singh Tanwar is a retired CBI officer. She belongs to Rajput caste.She was educated in many Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central School) and graduated from Lady Shri Ram college in New Delhi. After her graduations she was preparing for the entrance tests to the administrative services and mass communications, when a close friend of her suggested that she should go and audition for the national broadcaster Doordarshan's film songs based program Albela Sur Mela. To her surprise she was selected and from there begun her journey towards television. On the other hand her academic career graph came to a standstill as she failed to clear both the tests. But she did not stop there. Acting was not a new experience for her. During her college days she was the secretary and president of the dramatic society and had her fair share of stage. Facing the camera however was altogether a different experience for her. But she was encouraged to pursue her acting career after her experience in anchoring. Initially the acting bug smote her mainly for the money and popularity. She picks serials that does not require much commitment but gradually excelled her acting skills and became a fine actress. Presently she lives in Malad West area, in Mumbai.

Career[link]

Sakshi Tanwar at Femina Miss India 2012 pageant

Sakshi started her career as an anchor in Doordarshan.She anchored Film songs based program 'Albela Sur Mela'.Sakshi Tanwar was then seen acting in soaps like Ehsaas, Dastoor, Bhanwar, X-Zone before she got her big break of playing the central role in Rajdhani. Once she also had to work on her voice while playing the character of Sher Bano, in Dastoor. Her favorite character remains to be that of a social worker in the serial Bhanwar.

The major turning point of her career came when she was offered the role of Parvati in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki. She got this role by sheer coincidence when she was shooting for a pilot of a serial under Balaji Telefilms where suddenly Ekta Kapoor walked in the sets and offered her the role of Parvati. At first she was apprehensive about the role but after hearing the script she agreed to enact the character and the rest is history. Thus, the role of Parvati in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii gave her a big break.

Sakshi has worked in other serials, including the very popular Devi, where she played the central character of Gayatri, who is a spiritually inclined woman with a strong connection to Goddess Durga. She also did a digital film Kahin Door, directed by Sandeep Varma, in 2002. Her work in Colors most popular show Balika Vadhu, as Teepri was also well appreciated. She appeared in a few movies in 2008, one of them being Coffee House, in which she was the main protagonist. She has also done a cameo role in Ekta Kapoor's C Kkompany.

The actress has also played the role of a municipal officer in Saluun movie. She made her bold presencein two short films O Re Manva and Bawra Mann. O Re Manva won the best international narrative short at New York International Film Festival in 2009.

She works as a creative director in the production company Positive Thinkerz and tried her hands directing Sammaan Ek Adhikaar.^{[citation needed]}

She is currently playing the female lead role of Priya Ram Kapoor in Ekta Kapoor's Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. The show along with her character of Priya has become popular and her acting skills are well praised.

Television Shows[link]

Bollywood Movies[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sakshi Tanwar at the Internet Movie Database

Sonia Gandhi
Chairperson of the National Advisory Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 March 2010
In office 2004–2006
Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Member of Lok Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006
Constituency	Rae Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
In office 2004–2006
President of the Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office 1998
Member of Lok Sabha
In office 1999–2004
Constituency	Amethi, Uttar Pradesh
Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 March 1998 – 22 May 2004
Preceded by	Sharad Pawar
Succeeded by	Lal Krishna Advani
Personal details
Born	Edvige Antonia Albina Maino (1946-12-09) 9 December 1946 (age 65) Lusiana, Veneto, Italy
Citizenship	India
Nationality	Italian[citation needed]
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Rajiv Gandhi (m. 1969–1991) «start: (1969)–end+1: (1992)»"Marriage: Rajiv Gandhi to Sonia Gandhi" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Sonia_Gandhi)
Children	Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Vadra
Residence	10 Janpath, New Delhi, India
Profession	Politician social worker
Religion	Roman Catholicism[1]

Sonia Gandhi (born Antonia Edvige Albina Maino^[2][3][4] on 9 December 1946)^[5] is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi and belongs to Nehru–Gandhi family. After his assassination in 1991, she was invited by the Indian National Congress to take over the Congress but refused and publicly stayed away from politics amidst constant prodding by the Congress. She finally agreed to join politics in 1997; in 1998, she was elected as the leader of the Congress.

Since then, Sonia Gandhi has been the President of the Indian National Congress Party. She has served as the Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha since 2004. In September 2010, on being re-elected for the fourth time, she became the longest serving president in the 125-year history of the Congress party.^[6] Her foreign birth has been a subject of much debate and controversy.^[7][8][9] Although Sonia is actually the fifth foreign-born person to be leader of the Congress Party, she is the first since independence in 1947.^[10]

Early life[link]

Sonia Gandhi's birthplace, 31, Contrada Maini (Maini street), Lusiana, Italy (the house on the right)

She was born to Stefano and Paola Maino in Contrada Màini ("Maini quarter/district"), at Lusiana,^[11][12] a little village 30 km from Vicenza in Veneto,^[13] Italy, where families with the family name "Màino" have been living for many generations.^[14][15][16] She spent her adolescence in Orbassano,^[17] 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.^[18] Her mother and two sisters still live around Orbassano.^[19]

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 Cambridge in 1965 at a Greek restaurant (the Varsity Restaurant) while working there as a waitress to make ends meet.^[20][21] 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.^[22]

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.^[23] 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.^[24]

Political career[link]

Wife of the Prime Minister[link]

Sonia Gandhi's involvement with Indian public life began after the assassination of her mother-in-law and her husband's election as Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister's wife she acted as his official hostess and also accompanied him on a number of state visits.^{[citation needed]} In 1984, she actively campaigned against her husband's sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi who was running against Rajiv in Amethi. At the end of Rajiv Gandhi's five years in office, the Bofors Scandal broke out. Ottavio Quattrocchi, an Italian business man believed to be involved, was said to be a friend of Sonia Gandhi, having access to the Prime Minister's official residence.^[25] In 1980, her name appeared in the voter's list for New Delhi prior to her becoming an Indian Citizen, when she was still holding Italian Citizenship.^[26] It was a violation of Indian Laws.^[27] When she did acquire Indian Citizenship in April 1983, the issue cropped up again, as her name appeared on the 1983 voter's list when the deadline for registering had been in January 1983.^[28][29]

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said that she surrendered her Italian passport to the Italian Embassy on 27 April 1983. Italian nationality law did not permit dual nationality until 1992. So, by acquiring Indian citizenship in 1983, she would automatically have lost Italian citizenship.^[30]

Congress President[link]

With the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev during his State visit in December 2010.

After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and her refusal to become Prime Minister, the party settled on the choice of P. V. Narasimha Rao who became leader and subsequently Prime Minister. Over the next few years, however, the Congress fortunes continued to dwindle and it lost the 1996 elections. Several senior leaders such as Madhavrao Sindhia, Rajesh Pilot, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, Arjun Singh, Mamata Banerjee, G. K. Moopanar, P. Chidambaram and Jayanthi Natarajan were in open revolt against incumbent President Sitaram Kesri and quit the party, splitting the Congress into many factions.^{[citation needed]}

In an effort to revive the party's sagging fortunes, she joined the Congress Party as a primary member in the Calcutta Plenary Session in 1997 and became party leader in 1998.^[31]

In May 1999, three senior leaders of the party (Sharad Pawar, P. A. Sangma, and Tariq Anwar) challenged her right to try to become India's Prime Minister because of her foreign origins. In response, she offered to resign as party leader, resulting in an outpouring of support and the expulsion from the party of the three rebels who went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party.^[32]

Within 62 days of joining as a primary member, she was offered the party President post which she accepted.^{[citation needed]} She contested Lok Sabha elections from Bellary, Karnataka and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in 1999. In Bellary she defeated veteran BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj.^[33] In 2004 and 2009, she was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.^[34]

Leader of the Opposition[link]

Sonia Gandhi welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to her residence, 10 Janpath in New Delhi, India, 2009.

She was elected the Leader of the Opposition of the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999.^{[citation needed]} When the BJP-led NDA formed a government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, she took the office of the Leader of Opposition. As Leader of Opposition, she called a no-confidence motion against the NDA government led by Vajpayee in 2003.^{[citation needed]}

She holds the record of having served as Congress President for 10 years consecutively.^{[citation needed]}

2004 elections and aftermath[link]

In the 2004 general elections, Gandhi launched a nationwide campaign, criss-crossing the country on the Aam Aadmi (ordinary man) slogan in contrast to the 'India Shining' slogan of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance. She countered the BJP asking "Who is India Shining for?". In the election, she won by a large margin in the Rae Bareilly constituency. Following the unexpected defeat of the NDA, she was widely expected to be the next Prime Minister of India. On 16 May, she was unanimously chosen to lead a 15-party coalition government with the support of the left, which was subsequently named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

The defeated NDA protested once against her 'foreign origin' and senior NDA leader Sushma Swaraj threatened to shave her head and "sleep on the ground", among other things, should Sonia become prime minister.^[7] The NDA also claimed that there were legal reasons that barred her from the Prime Minister's post.^[35] They pointed, in particular, to Section 5 of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955, which they claimed implied 'reciprocity'. This was contested by others^[29] and eventually the suits were dismissed by the Supreme Court of India.^[36]

A few days after the election, Gandhi appointed Manmohan Singh as prime minister. Her supporters compared it to the old Indian tradition of renunciation,^[37] while her opponents attacked it as a political stunt.^[38]

UPA Chairperson[link]

Sonia Gandhi speaking at World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2006

On 23 March 2006, Gandhi announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and also as chairperson of the National Advisory Council under the office-of-profit controversy and the speculation that the government was planning to bring an ordinance to exempt the post of chairperson of National Advisory Council from the purview of office of profit. She was re-elected from her constituency Rae Bareilly in May 2006 by a margin of over 400,000 votes.

As chairperson of the National Advisory Committee and the UPA, she played an important role in making the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act into law.^[39][40]

She addressed the United Nations on 2 October 2007, Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary which is observed as the international day of non-violence after a UN resolution passed on 15 July 2007.^[41]

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. The Congress itself won 206 Lok Sabha seats, which was the highest total by any party since 1991.

Personal life[link]

Sonia Gandhi in 2009

Sonia is the widow of late Rajiv Gandhi, elder son of Indira Gandhi. She is a practising Christian.^[42] There has been considerable media speculation for over a decade about their future role in the Congress. After a period of uncertainty, both Rahul and Priyanka became primary members of the Congress party. While Priyanka has so far restricted herself to organising her mother's election campaigns and taking care of Sonia's constituency, Rahul Gandhi has gone on to take formal charge as General Secretary of the Congress Party. He is also currently head of the Youth Congress.

In August 2011, she underwent a successful surgery for some ailment in the US. It has been widely speculated in the media that the surgery took place at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Newspapers reported that she returned^[43] to India on 9 September after her treatment.

Honours, awards and international recognition[link]

Gandhi was named the third most powerful woman in the world by Forbes Magazine in the year 2004^[44] and was ranked 6th in 2007.^[45] In 2010, Gandhi ranked as the ninth most powerful person on the planet by Forbes Magazine.^[46] She was also named among the Time 100 most influential people in the world for the years 2007^[47] and 2008.^[48] The British magazine New Statesman listed Sonia Gandhi at number 29 in their annual survey of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures" in the year 2010.^[49]

Portrayals and coverage in books[link]

Books[link]

• Sonia Gandhi – An Extraordinary Life, An Indian Destiny (2011), a biography written by Rani Singh.

See also[link]

• List of political families
• List of Italians

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• S. R. ET AL. BAKSHI (1998) Sonia Gandhi, The President of AICC South Asia Books. ISBN 81-7024-988-0
• Rupa Chaterjee (1999) Sonia Gandhi: The Lady in Shadow Butala. ISBN 81-87277-02-5
• C. Rupa, Rupa Chaterjee (2000) Sonia Mystique South Asia Books. ISBN 81-85870-24-1
• Moro, Javier "El sari rojo" (Ed. Seix Barral, 2008) "Il sari rosso" (Il Saggiatore, 2009)

External links[link]

	Biography portal
	India portal

Official

• Sonia Gandhi official Indian National Congress Party profile
• Parliamentary profile at India.gov.in

Others

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonia Gandhi

• Profile at BBC News
• Profile at Forbes
• Sonia Gandhi collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Sonia Gandhi collected news and commentary at The Guardian
• Sonia Gandhi collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Sonia Gandhi collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Sonia Gandhi at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Sonia Gandhi in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Works by Sonia Gandhi on Open Library at the Internet Archive
• Sonia Gandhi at the Notable Names Database

v t e Indian National Congress Presidents Bonnerjee · Naoroji · Tyabji · Yule · Wedderburn · Mehta · Charlappa · Bonnerjee · Dadabhai Naoroji · Webb · Banerjea · Sayani · Nair · A. M. Bose · Dutt · Chandavarkar · Wacha · Banerjea · L. Ghosh · H. Cotton · Gokhale · Naoroji · R. Ghosh · (1907-1908) Malaviya · Wedderburn · Dar · Mudholkar · Bahadur · B. N. Bose · Sinha · Mazumdar · Besant · Malaviya · Imam · M. Nehru · Rai · C. Vijayaraghavachariar · Khan · Das · M. Ali · A. K. Azad · M. Gandhi · Naidu · Iyengar · Ansari · M. Nehru · J. Nehru · S. V. Patel · Malaviya (1932-1933) · Nellie Sengupta · Rajendra Prasad (1934-1935) · J. Nehru (1936-1937) · S. C. Bose · (1938-1939) · A. K. Azad (1940-1946) · Kripalani · Sitaramayya (1948-1949) · Tandon · J. Nehru (1951-1954) · Dhebar (1955-1959) · I. Gandhi · Reddy (1960-1963) · K. Kamaraj (1964-1967) · S. Nijalingappa (1968-1969) · J. Ram (1970-1971) · D. Sharma (1972-1974) · Baruah (1975-1977) · I. Gandhi (1978-1984) · R. Gandhi (1985-1991) · Narasimha Rao (1992-1996) · Kesri (1996-1998) · S. Gandhi (1998-present) Frontal Organizations Seva Dal · Mahila Congress · Indian Youth Congress · National Students Union of India · Indian National Trade Union Congress Internal Organizations Congress President · Working President · Congress Working Committee · Central Election Committee · All India Congress Committee · Pradesh Congress Committee Pradesh committees Andhra Pradesh PCC · Assam PCC · Bihar PCC · Chhatisgarh PCC · Delhi PCC · Gujarat PCC · Haryana PCC · Himachal Pradesh PCC · Jammu & Kashmir PCC · Jharkhand PCC · Karnataka PCC · Kerala PCC · Maharashtra PCC · Madhya Pradesh PCC · Meghalaya PCC · Mizoram PCC · Mumbai PCC · Nagaland PCC · Orissa PCC · Pondicherry PCC · Punjab PCC · Rajasthan PCC · Tamil Nadu PCC · Tripura PCC · Uttarakhand PCC · Uttar Pradesh PCC · West Bengal PCC History Statewise Election history of Congress Party · Nehru-Gandhi family · Congress Radio · 10 Janpath · The Emergency · Bofors scandal · INA Defence Committee · Indian National Congress (Organisation) · Breakaway parties