Ambika Soni (born 13 November 1942) is an Indian politician in theIndian National Congress. She has beenMinister of Information and Broadcasting. She was aMember of Parliament representing the state ofPunjab in theRajya Sabha.
Born in Lahore in undividedPunjab to Nakul Sen Wadhwa, anIndian Civil Service officer andLt. Governor of Goa in 1942.[1] Her mother, Indu Wadhwa, was a home-maker. The family is Christian.
Ambika studied atWelham Girls School, New Delhi and did her M.A. (Hons.) fromIndraprastha College,Delhi University, followed by Diploma Superiore en Langue Francaise fromAlliance Francaise, Bangkok and Post-Graduate Diploma in Spanish Art and Literature fromUniversity of Havana,Cuba.[2]
In 1961, aged 19, Ambika married Uday Soni, anIndian Foreign Service officer.
Ambika Soni began her political career in 1969 when she was co-opted into theCongress Party byIndira Gandhi at the time of the Party split in 1969. Soni was an old family friend of Gandhi from the time when her father was posted asDistrict collector ofAmritsar during thePartition of India and worked very closely withJawaharlal Nehru.[3] In 1975 she was elected as the president of theIndian Youth Congress and worked closely withSanjay Gandhi.[1] In 1998, she became the president ofAll India Mahila Congress. From 1999 - 2006 she was General Secretary ofAll India Congress Committee.
| Jan. 2000 - Feb. 2004 and Aug. 2004 - Jan. 2006 | Member, Committee on Public Undertakings |
| Jan. 2000 - Feb. 2004 | Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation |
| Feb. 2000 - 2001 | Member, Committee on Defence |
| May 2000 - June 2003 | Member, House Committee |
| Jan. 2002 - Dec. 2003 | Member, Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture |
| Jan. 2003 - Feb. 2004 | Member, Committee on Home Affairs |
| Aug. 2004 - Jan. 2006 | Member, Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture |
| Oct. 2004 - Jan. 2006 | Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Environment and Forests |
| March 2005 - Jan. 2006 | Member, Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh |
| Dec. 2012 - May 2014 | Member, Committee on External Affairs |
| Dec. 2012 - May 2014 | Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence |
| May 2013 - May 2014 | Member, Committee on Public Accounts |
| Sept. 2014 - May 2019 | Member, Committee on Defence |
| July 2018 - Feb. 2019 | Member, Select Committee of Rajya Sabha on the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2018 |
| July 2019 onwards | Member, Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh |
| Sept. 2019 onwards | Member, Committee on Finance |
| Oct. 2019 onwards | Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism |
| Date | Office held | Additional Info | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 January 2006 - 22 May 2009 | Minister of Tourism andMinister of Culture | First Manmohan Singh ministry | |
| 22 May 2009 - 27 October 2012 | Minister of Information and Broadcasting | Second Manmohan Singh ministry | [4] |
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