Smt. Sonia Gandhi

Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson

Smt. Sonia Gandhi has served as the Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) since its inception in 1991. Under her guidance, the Foundation has pursued its core objectives of promoting education, community development, gender equity, and support for marginalised groups, in keeping with the values and vision articulated by late Shri Rajiv Gandhi. Smt. Sonia Gandhi’s leadership at RGF continues to emphasise a commitment to social development rooted in constitutional values and democratic institutions.

Smt. Sonia Gandhi has been a Member of Parliament since 1984 from the Raebareli Lok Sabha Constituency, elected continuously till 2024, when she moved to the Rajya Sabha.  Alongside her work at the Foundation, Smt. Gandhi has contributed significantly to public understanding of modern Indian history and leadership through her writing and editorial work.

During the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, she served as Chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC), an advisory body that brought together policymakers, scholars, and civil society representatives. In this role, she played an important part in shaping rights-based policy initiatives, including the processes that led to the enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005 the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2006, the National Food Security Act, 2013, and many other laws to promote social justice for Forest Dwellers, Street Vendors, Safai Karmacharis and People affected by land acquisition. 

She is the author of Rajiv and Rajiv’s World, reflective volumes on the life, ideas, and public service of Shri Rajiv Gandhi. She has also edited two important collections of correspondence between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Smt. Indira Gandhi—Freedom’s Daughter and Two Alone, Two Together—which offer valuable insight into India’s political and intellectual history.