As Sonia Gandhi, the former president of the Congress, turned 77 on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent her best wishes and prayed for a long and healthy life.

PM Modi posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said wishing Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji a happy birthday. Wishing for a long and healthy life for her, he wrote.

Sonia Gandhi is reportedly going to celebrate her birthday in Rajasthan at a resort owned by a close friend of the family, along with her children, Rahul and Priyanka. Sher Bagh Hotel, an opulent resort close to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, is where she would be staying. Rahul Gandhi is now in Rajasthan as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra organised by the party.

Sonia reportedly arrived in Jaipur on Thursday as part of her four-day visit to the state. She took a helicopter from Jaipur to Sawai Madhopur. Rahul and Priyanka later joined her at the resort.

In addition to the prime minister, Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor, and  Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin wished the former Congress president on her birthday.

Gandhi, according to Kharge, has consistently fought for the rights of the underprivileged. A tireless defender of the rights of the underprivileged, she has faced hardship with bravery, tenacity, and unselfish sacrifice. She has also been a symbol of the highest grace. He hoped for long, healthy life.

Gandhi’s dedication to serving the public interest and elevating the underprivileged and marginalised groups in society, has won over a billion hearts, Venugopal said extending his warm wishes to her.

Shashi Tharoor said, Sonia Gandhi led the Congress with tremendous distinction and is still an example to all of its leaders and workers. The Congress leader further wished her continued health and happiness as well as continued leadership of our party and service to our country.

Stalin also wished Gandhi a long and healthy life. May her deep insight and abundance of experience continue to be a guiding light in our collective endeavour to rescue INDIA from autocratic forces, the CM wrote on X.

Meanwhile, due to health issues, Sonia Gandhi has had to step back from active politics in recent years, but she is still very important to the Congress party.

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Today is Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s 75th birthday. Gandhi, Congress’s longest-serving president, has experienced many highs and lows throughout her political career.

Gandhi was elected president of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 1998 and a Member of Parliament from the Amethi parliamentary seat in 1999. She went on to become the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after that.

Her journey from a young grieving widow to the centre-stage of India’s politics, speaks volumes of her leadership skill in a country with which she was not familiar but became a naturalized citizen of. Her Italian origin continues to be a bugbear for her leadership.

Under her stewardship, the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 2004 General Elections and formed the government in the Centre with a rainbow coalition also comprising of the Left parties. Gandhi has led the Congress for more than 20 years. In 2017, she resigned from the post of UPA chairperson and her son Rahul Gandhi was named party president. However, Sonia Gandhi was back in the saddle when Rahul Gandhi decided to step down following the party’s defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Key social welfare measures under Sonia Gandhi’s tenure as UPA boss:

Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI): Makes information accessible to citizens. Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA, now MGNREGA): MGNREGA is also known as the UPA’s signature programme. Under this act, every rural family that demands employment, within 15 days of their demand and within 5 km of where they live. And instead of a dole, MGNREGA pledges the dignity of work that would also build the rural infrastructure. Despite mocking it, the NDA government has continued with it by increasing its grants as a useful tool.

Read Also: Sonia Gandhi turns 75 today, here are some throwback pictures of longest serving Congress president

Right to Education Act 2009 (RTE): This Act provides for free and compulsory education for children aged between 6-14 years in India under Article 21 (A) of the Constitution of India. Under this, no school can deny admission to a child in the age bracket of 6-14.

National Food Security Act 2013 (RTF): When the Congress returned to power in 2009 on the basis of the government’s pro-poor policies. The UPA chairperson spelt out her priorities ‘Food for All.’ The law was passed in 2013, became the largest social security programme backed by law in the world.

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