Ambika Soni

Ambika Soni
Ambika Soni
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha ; from Punjab, India
	In office; March 1976 - March 1982 ; January 2000 - June 2004 ; July 2004 - July 2022
Minister of Information and Broadcasting ; Government of India
	In office; 22 May 2009 – 27 October 2012
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi
Succeeded by	Manish Tewari
Minister of Tourism and Culture ; Government of India
	In office; 29 January 2006 – 22 May 2009
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Renuka Chowdhury
Succeeded by	Kumari Selja
President of ; All India Mahila Congress
	In office; 1998–1999
President of ; Indian Youth Congress
	In office; 1975–1977
General Secretary of ; All India Congress Committee
	In office; 1999–2020
Member of ; Congress Working Committee
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 1999
Personal details
Born	13 November 1942 (age 81); Lahore, Punjab, British India; (now in Pakistan)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Uday C. Soni
Children	1
Residence	New Delhi
Alma mater	Indraprastha College, University of Delhi ; University of Havana ; Alliance Francaise ; Convent Of Jesus & Mary

Ambika Soni (born 13 November 1942) is an Indian politician in the Indian National Congress. She has been Minister of Information and Broadcasting. She was a Member of Parliament representing the state of Punjab in the Rajya Sabha.

Early life and education

Born in Lahore in undivided Punjab to Nakul Sen Wadhwa, an Indian Civil Service officer and Lt. Governor of Goa in 1942.^[1] Her mother, Indu Wadhwa, was a home-maker. The family is Christian.

Ambika studied at Welham Girls School, New Delhi and did her M.A. (Hons.) from Indraprastha College, Delhi University, followed by Diploma Superiore en Langue Francaise from Alliance Francaise, Bangkok and Post-Graduate Diploma in Spanish Art and Literature from University of Havana, Cuba.^[2]

In 1961, aged 19, Ambika married Uday Soni, an Indian Foreign Service officer.

Ambika Soni began her political career in 1969 when she was co-opted into the Congress Party by Indira 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 as District collector of Amritsar during the Partition of India and worked very closely with Jawaharlal Nehru.^[3] In 1975 she was elected as the president of the Indian Youth Congress and worked closely with Sanjay Gandhi.^[1] In 1998, she became the president of All India Mahila Congress. From 1999 - 2006 she was General Secretary of All 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 and Minister of Culture	First Manmohan Singh ministry
22 May 2009 - 27 October 2012	Minister of Information and Broadcasting	Second Manmohan Singh ministry	^[4]

^ ^a ^b "An affair to remember". Hindustan Times. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ Dua, Rohan (8 April 2014). "Ambika Soni, retired babu husband worth Rs 94 crore". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
^ "By invitation only". Hindustan Times. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ "Soni, Wasnik, Sahai resign ahead of reshuffle". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 3 May 2022.