Watch: Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi’s wedding video resurfaces; netizens react | Trending News
The black-and-white wedding video of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s wedding with Sonia Maino (now Gandhi) in 1968 has been resurfaced on the internet from the archives of the Associated Press. The viral video shows the couple signing official documents, exchanging garlands, and cutting their wedding cake among family members.
Reports say Rajiv Gandhi was 23 when he tied the knot with the 21-year-old Sonia Maino. The wedding ceremony took place in the garden of Indira Gandhi’s residence at 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi and had attendees including then President Zakir Hussain, freedom fighter-turned-diplomat and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, and Sanjay Gandhi.
The wedding video, reshared by the Instagram handle @indianhistoryposts, has amassed several reactions from social media users.
Watch the video here:
Reacting to it, a user commented, “How beautifully n graciously she accepted Indian culture & India!!” Another user wrote, “A PM who had the guts to accept his wife in front of thr whole world, rather than leaving the wife like some other leaders.”
“I love how Indira Gandhi is conducting herself so simply like a regular Indian mom,” the third user wrote. “A beautiful wedding of a beautiful couple unfazed with so many differences of their origins in culture of their countries, religions, and a fear of acceptability,” another user reacted.
According to Rasheed Kidwai’s book on Sonia Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi wore a cream silk Patiala achkan and chooridars with a pink Bharatpuri turban for the wedding while Sonia wore a pale pink khadi saree. A day after the wedding, Indira Gandhi hosted a reception at the Ashok Hotel with Parsi, Kashmiri, and Italian cuisine.
Rajiv Gandhi first met Sonia in Cambridge. Their children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are senior Congress leaders today. In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, following which PV Narasimha Rao was appointed as the Prime Minister of India.
