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NEW DELHI: Looks do not kill. Definitely not Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher! Sonia Gandhi regaled the Commonwealth audience with the recollection of how her husband Rajiv Gandhi's charm, which earned him a legion of followers during his time at the helm and is still recalled with fondness, failed with the hardened Thatcher.
Addressing the annual Commonwealth lecture, Sonia recalled experiences from the meetings of Commonwealth heads where she accompanied her husband Rajiv. She said when the issue of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa cropped up at the 1985 CHOGM in the Bahamas, only Thatcher held out in opposition, frustrating the attempts of consensus.
Shridath Ramphal, Commonwealth secretary general, suggested an apparently smart idea to work the charms on Thatcher.
He tasked Rajiv Gandhi, Brian Mulroney of Canada and Robert Hawke of Australia to win over the UK leader, telling them, in half-jest, "She will not be able to resist the three best-looking men of the Conference." Alas! The trick failed to work. Sonia said, "The Iron Lady was unmoved and the handsome threesome failed either to charm or to persuade her. Thus was the stage set for the most acrimonious political confrontation in the Commonwealth's history."
Source
Addressing the annual Commonwealth lecture, Sonia recalled experiences from the meetings of Commonwealth heads where she accompanied her husband Rajiv. She said when the issue of sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa cropped up at the 1985 CHOGM in the Bahamas, only Thatcher held out in opposition, frustrating the attempts of consensus.
Shridath Ramphal, Commonwealth secretary general, suggested an apparently smart idea to work the charms on Thatcher.
He tasked Rajiv Gandhi, Brian Mulroney of Canada and Robert Hawke of Australia to win over the UK leader, telling them, in half-jest, "She will not be able to resist the three best-looking men of the Conference." Alas! The trick failed to work. Sonia said, "The Iron Lady was unmoved and the handsome threesome failed either to charm or to persuade her. Thus was the stage set for the most acrimonious political confrontation in the Commonwealth's history."
Source
