NEW DELHI -- Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India's governing Indian National Congress Party, has left the country for a medical checkup, party officials said Tuesday. The sudden departure and the minimal information in the announcement revived rumors that Mrs. Gandhi, 65, may have a serious health problem. Mrs. Gandhi made a similar departure from...
NEW DELHI -- As its winter session wound down last week, it was clear that the Indian Parliament would remain a male bastion for the near future. The lower house, almost 90 percent male in its composition, had ensured that a bill intended to increase the number of female members would not be passed for at least another year. In March 2010,...
NEW DELHI -- It has been 11 days since the announcement of the disappearance of Sonia Gandhi, the most powerful political figure in India. From all corners of the country, people have offered prayers and good wishes, even her political enemies. Yet what is most intriguing is that so few people are demanding that she be found. Mrs. Gandhi's...