Congress leader Ambika Soni's husband Uday Soni dies; Sonia Gandhi, party leaders pay tribute

Uday Soni, the husband of senior Congress leader Ambika Soni, passed away on Saturday. Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party MPs Kumari Selja and Ranjeet Ranjan, along with several other dignitaries went to the Lodi Road cremation ground in New Delhi to pay their respects to the former Indian Foreign Service officer. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also expressed his grief in a social media post saying, “Saddened to hear about the passing away of Shri Uday Soni Ji, husband of senior Congress leader and CWC member Smt. Ambika Soni Ji.” “My deepest condolences to Ambika Ji and her family in this moment of grief. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with them,” he added. Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala posted a message on X: “My deepest condolences to our Senior Leader, Smt. Ambika Soni and the entire family on the sad demise of Sh. Uday Soni. May his soul rest in peace and God comfort the entire family.” Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) said, “I have known Uday ji since 1975-76. That is almost 50 years. At that time Ambika ji was the president of all India and I was the state president… He was a gentleman, soft spoken and well educated ‘Ambikadi’… passed away.” Both Azad and Soni served as presidents of the Youth Congress during their political careers. JKPCC President Tariq Hameed Karra said, “I am deeply saddened to learn of the demise of Shri Uday Chand Soni ji, the beloved husband of our senior party leader and former Union Minister, Smt. Ambika Soni ji.” Ambika Soni: Life and Career Soni was born into a Christian family in Lahore in undivided Punjab. She has a postgraduate diploma in Spanish art and literature from the University of Havana, Cuba. She married Uday Soni in 1961, when she was 19 years old. Soni entered politics after her marriage when she met former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Italy. She was co-opted into the Youth Congress, of which she became the president in 1975. When Sonia Gandhi became the president of the All-India Congress Committee in 1999, Soni was appointed the party’s general secretary. She served five terms as a Member of Parliament.