She doesn't fit into the straitjacket of the Indian politician. And that's what makes her formidable to rivals and dear to the masses
NAME: Sonia Gandhi
BORN: Dec. 9, 1946 at Lusiana, Italy
MARRIED: Rajiv Gandhi in 1968
LOST: Mother-in-law Indira Gandhi and husband Rajiv to assassinations
GAINED: The post of president of a rudder-less Congress
ACHIEVED: Return of the party to power after a full term, a feat last seen in 1984.
ADOPTED: A refreshing style of politics that avoids personal attacks, jingoism and divisive talk
And five years ago, when poll results began to suggest that a Congress-led coalition was a possibility, she told friends that it would be Manmohan again. At the time, the BJP was still going on and on about the ‘videshi bahu’ factor, so many friends (and apparently her children) asked her why she did not simply declare that she did not want to be PM. Her explanation was that she could not reveal this till a ruling coalition was in place because Congressmen and allies alike, would stake their claims to the top job brushing aside Manmohan Singh’s weak political credentials.
(This story appears in the 11 September, 2009 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)