Ambika Soni

Infobox_Indian_politician
name = Ambika Soni


caption = Ambika Soni's Official Portrait
birth_date = Birth date and age|1943|11|13|df=y
birth_place = Lahore, Pakistan
residence = New Delhi
death_date =
death_place =
constituency = Delhi
office = Delhi
salary =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party = Indian National Congress
religion = ChristianFact|date=July 2008
spouse = Uday Soni
children = one son
website =
email =
footnotes =
date = January 24
year = 2007 |
source = http://164.100.24.167:8080/members/website/Mainweb.asp?mpcode=83

Ambika Soni (born November 13, 1943) is an Indian politician. She currently serves in the Union Cabinet as the minister in charge of Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

She is a member of the Indian National Congress and is an elected Member of Parliament representing the state of Punjab in the Rajya Sabha. She was known to be a Sanjay Gandhi crony in the late 1970s, and has since been reported as being a close advisor of current Congress President, Sonia Gandhi. Soni was also assigned the difficult task of enforcing discipline in the faction-ridden Congress in Kerala.

Controversy

In the recent row over the Sethusamudram, Ambika Soni's department filed an affidavit questioning the existence of Lord Rama. Union Minister for Commerce Jairam Ramesh stated that if he were in Soni's spot, that he would resign [ [http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14527687 Ambika Soni offers to resign over Ram Sethu row] Sify - September 15, 2007] . On September 18, 2007 Soni stated "I will not take even a minute to relinquish my post if my leaders (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi) ask me to do so," [ [http://news.indiainfo.com/2007/09/15/0709151813_ambika_soni.html Ambika Soni offers to resign on Ram Setu affidavit] IndiaInfo - September 15, 2007]

=Positions held=
* 1975 - President, Indian Youth Congress
* March 1976 - Elected to Rajya Sabha
* 1998 - President, All India Mahila Congress
* 1999 onwards - General Secretary, All India Congress Committee
* January 2000 - Elected to Rajya Sabha (resigned w.e.f. 10 June 2004)
* January 2000 - February 2004 - Member, Committee on Public Undertakings
* January 2000 - February 2004 - Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation
* February 2000-2001 - Member, Committee on Defence
* May 2000 - June 2003 - Member, House Committee
* January 2002 - December 2003 - Member, Committee on Transport and Tourism
* January 2003 - February 2004 - Member, Committee on Home Affairs
* July 2004 - Elected to Rajya Sabha
* August 2004 - January 2006 Member, Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture
* October 2004 - January 2006 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Environment and Forests
* March 2005 - January 2006 Member, Election to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
* 29 Jan. 2006 onwards Minister of Tourism and Culture

References