Sonia Gandhi is standing for a panchayat seat in Munnar, Kerala, and yes, that is her real name. Even more striking, she is contesting as a BJP candidate, creating an unusual political twist with a Congress link woven into her personal history.

According to a report by the Kottayam-based Manorama, the BJP has nominated Sonia Gandhi for the Nallathanni ward (Ward 16) of the Munnar panchayat. She is, of course, not the Congress MP Sonia Gandhi, but a 34-year-old local resident, Sonia Gandhi of Nallathanni Kallar, whose life story has unfolded in a markedly different manner.

Her father, the late Dure Raj, a labourer and Congress worker, chose the name out of admiration for the then Congress president. For years, her name was an interesting anecdote in the quiet hills of Idukki.

Marriage, h

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