India’s Sonia Gandhi, opposition leader, hospitalised with Covid-related issues
- Her Congress Party said the 75-year-old was stable and being kept in hospital for observation; she tested positive for the virus on June 2
- The party’s fortunes have declined sharply since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP party defeated it in 2014 and 2019
The leader of India’s main opposition party, Sonia Gandhi, has been admitted to hospital in New Delhi with health issues related to Covid-19, her Congress party said.
Gandhi was admitted to the Ganga Ram Hospital in the capital New Delhi, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said in a tweet.
“She is stable and will be kept at the hospital for observation,” he said, giving no other details. The 75-year-old had tested positive for Covid-19 on June 2.
Italian-born Gandhi, widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991, is the longest-serving president of the Congress party. It ruled India for decades after its founders led the country to independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Gandhi, 76, is credited with reviving the Congress when it won a surprise victory in legislative elections in 2004.
Following that election success, she would have become India’s first foreign-born and first Roman Catholic prime minister, but she surprised everyone by turning down the top post and nominating economist Manmohan Singh to be prime minister.
In recent years, Gandhi has travelled several times to the United States to deal with health issues.
Famously media-shy, her health has always been a matter of secrecy with her party never divulging too many details or entertaining questions, raising questions about transparency.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
