Born on 12th January, 1972, Priyanka Gandhi is the second of two children of late Sh. Rajiv Gandhi and Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Her father Rajiv Gandhi, Grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru were all Indian Prime Ministers. Her grandfather Feroze Gandhi was a respected parliamentarian and her great-great-grandfather, Motilal Nehru, was a distinguished leader in the Indian Independence Movement.

Early Life:

She attended Modern School, Convent of Jesus and Mary, New Delhi and holds degree in psychology from Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University. Though, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, she and her brother Rahul both had to continue their education from home only. As a scion of Gandhi the two kids always had a threat to their life from terrorist attack. She is an amateur radio operator, carrying the call sign of VU2PGY.

Political Career:

Priyanka Gandhi was considered as a potential inheritor of Gandhi family. However, she does assist her mother and brother but her priorities are clearly with her family including her two children. In an interview to BBC she very clearly said that “I am very clear in my mind. Politics is not a strong pull, the people are. And I can do things for them without being in politics. I have said it a thousand of times; I am not interested in joining politics”.

She however makes frequent visits to her mother’s and brother’s constituency of Rae Bareilly and Amethi where she deals with the people directly which she appears to enjoy. She is a popular figure in the constituency and draws a large crowd of people on her visit. She is reputed as a good organizer, level headed, and is believed to be her mother’s chief advisor on political matters.

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In the Indian general election for the year 2004, she was her mother’s main campaign manager and helped her brother Rahul Gandhi in his campaign. In a press meeting during these elections she said, “Politics is all about serving the people and I am already doing that. I may continue doing only that for five years more”. In a BBC interview she mentioned the war in Sri Lanka and commented “it’s not your cause which makes you terrorist but your method which makes you a terrorist”.

In the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, 2007, while Rahul Gandhi managed the statewide campaign, she focused on the ten seats in Amethi Rae Bareilly region, spending two weeks there trying to quell considerable infighting within the party workers over seat allocation.

Personal Life:

She is married to Robert Vadra, a prominent business man from Delhi. They have two children, Raihan and Miraya.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been praised for being as diplomatic as her mother, Sonia Gandhi, the President of Indian National Congress. She is level-headed and organized and has got all the ability to become a good mass leader.