Sonia Gandhi takes oath as member of 17th Lok Sabha

Sonia Gandhi, who retained the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat for the Congress, on Tuesday took oath as a member of the 17th Lok Sabha, amid desk-thumping applauds by the Opposition. Five times Member of Parliament (MP) from the Nehru-Gandhi traditional seat of Rae Bareli, she was welcomed to take the oath amid slogans of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" and "Jai Sri Ram".

Dressed in a maroon colour saree with dark green and gold border, she read the oath in Hindi. Gandhi retained the Rae Bareli seat by defeating BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh by over 1.67 lakh votes. Her win in the Uttar Pradesh constituency was the only saving grace for the Congress party in the state.

Gandhi was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 1999 for the 13th Lok Sabha. Currently, she is also serving as the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Gandhi is a native of Italy but she settled down in India after getting married to Rajiv Gandhi, late former prime minister. The duo has an elder daughter Priyanka Gandhi and younger son Rahul Gandhi.

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