PM Modi Wishes Sonia Gandhi a Long Life on Her Birthday
In a rare gesture of civility, Prime Minister Modi wishes Congress leader Sonia Gandhi long life and good health
New Delhi, Dec 09 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended his greetings to Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on her 79th birthday. Posting on X, he wrote, “Birthday greetings to Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji. May she be blessed with a long life and good health.”
While birthday wishes poured in from leaders across the political spectrum, PM Modi’s message stood out, highlighting a moment of civility between India’s two principal national parties amid an increasingly polarised political climate.
Born in 1946 in Orbassano, Italy, to Stefano and Paola Maino, Sonia Gandhi spent her early years in a Roman Catholic family alongside her sisters, Nadia and Anoushka. Her life took a turn in 1964 when she moved to Cambridge for her studies, where she met Rajiv Gandhi, then an engineering student. The couple married in 1968, marking the beginning of her entry into Indian public life.
Sonia Gandhi formally joined the Indian National Congress in 1997 and quickly rose through the ranks. She assumed the party presidency in 1998, succeeding Sitaram Kesri. Under her leadership, the Congress secured victories in the 2004 and 2009 general elections, governing as many as 16 states during the 2000s. She stepped down as Congress president in 2017, after nearly two decades at the helm, the longest tenure in the party’s history, handing over the role to her son, Rahul Gandhi.
