Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is now a Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad and one of the Congress party’s prominent national leaders. But her educational journey was shaped by security concerns that changed how she and her brother, Rahul Gandhi, continued their studies after the assassination of their grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1984.
From attending a boarding school in Dehradun to completing a psychology degree and pursuing Buddhist Studies in the UK, her academic background spans different stages of formal and home-based education.
FROM WELHAM TO HOME-SCHOOLING
According to media reports, Priyanka attended Welham Girls’ School in Dehradun until 1984. Following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, heightened security concerns led her and Rahul to continue their education at home.
She later attended the Convent of Jesus and Mary in New Delhi. After her father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991, security concerns continued to affect the siblings’ education, with home-based tutoring forming part of their studies.
A PSYCHOLOGY DEGREE FROM DELHI UNIVERSITY
Priyanka Gandhi pursued higher education at Jesus and Mary College, affiliated with the University of Delhi. According to her 2024 Lok Sabha election affidavit, she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Psychology in 1993.
Her undergraduate degree is one of the two higher-education qualifications declared in her election affidavit.
FROM PSYCHOLOGY TO BUDDHIST STUDIES
Her academic journey continued beyond graduation. In 2010, Priyanka Gandhi obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Buddhist Studies from the University of Sunderland in the United Kingdom, according to her election affidavit.
The affidavit identifies it as a postgraduate diploma obtained through the UK university, rather than a master’s degree.
WHAT ARE PRIYANKA GANDHI’S QUALIFICATIONS?
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s declared higher-education qualifications are a BA Honours degree in Psychology from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, completed in 1993, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Buddhist Studies from the University of Sunderland, UK, completed in 2010.
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