Kabir bats for Sonia...

Sonia Gandhi is the subject of a national debate in Italy after the impressive win of the Congress in the recent Lok Sabha elections. One of Italy’s most watched night-time shows Porta a Porta, telecast on the national network RAI Television, will telecast a discussion on India’s rise as an economic power and its importance in world affairs on Monday.

Guess who’s representing India on the panel? None other than Kabir Bedi, who is something of a superstar there because of his successful prime-time series Sandokan. “It is a great honour for me to be asked to represent India on such a prestigious show. Having known the Gandhi family I can bring a personal perspective to the discussion. I feel Sonia has been Italy’s greatest gift to India,” Kabir told After Hrs just before he caught the flight to Rome.

Sonia Gandhi was born Edvige Antonia Albina Maino in Lusiana, Italy. Rajiv Gandhi was enrolled at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge when he first met Sonia at a restaurant in 1964. Sonia herself was studying English at The Bell Educational Trust’s language school, also in Cambridge. While her father, Stefano Maino, expired some time back, Sonia’s mother Paola still lives with her other two daughters in Italy.