ORBASSANO, May 14: Sonia Gandhi's home town in Italy sent the surprise winner of India's elections a congratulatory telegram on Friday saying they were proud of her victory in the world's biggest democracy - "her India".

The mayor of Orbassano, Carlo Marroni, also sent a telegram to Sonia Gandhi's mother and two sisters, but he said her Italian relatives had decided to keep their customary silence despite her Congress party's upset victory in India's polls.

Born in Italy 57 years ago and the daughter of a small-time builder, Sonia M Gandhi was sewing up political support on Friday to become prime minister governing one billion people.

"We can only be proud of you, of your ability to create the foundation for broad growth in the world's biggest democracy," Marroni said in the five-sentence telegram sent in the name of the 25,000 inhabitants of Orbassano.

"Orbassano embraces you, wishing you a path of growth, development and solidarity," it said. "We share with you, with your India, these values that link us all."

Sonia Gandhi left Orbassano, on the outskirts of the northern city of Turin, in the late 1960s to study English in Cambridge, England, where she met Rajiv Gandhi, scion of India's Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty.

Ignoring objections from her family, she married Rajiv in a Hindu ceremony at 21. Thirty years later she reluctantly entered politics after her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv were both assassinated.

Those twin tragedies marked Sonia's Italian family, which has shunned the limelight and kept a self-imposed silence.

"Her family lives a normal life and is extremely reserved, partly due to security reasons," Marroni said, saying the assassinations of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi had raised "some concerns" over Sonia..

La Stampa newspaper said Sonia's mother, Paola Predebon, learned of Sonia's electoral win from a local journalist.

Asked if she was happy, she told La Stampa: "Yes, but now I feel besieged, I'm tired and I have nothing to say."

Sonia's mother lives in a mustard-coloured, three-storey house with geraniums on the balconies and white awnings. Residents of the neighbourhood said they remembered Sonia as a kind young woman with a fine singing voice.

"She was really nice to everyone," Marietta Fruttero said. "I lived nearby and had young children. She was always in our house. She wanted to play being a teacher and teach younger kids. She was good and nice."

Avtar Singh Rana, an Indian who has lived in Orbassano for more than 30 years, said: "For me it's a question of pride. I'm very proud of her victory."

Marroni said the town was considering sending a delegation to India to congratulate Sonia Gandhi. "But we need to assess whether it's the right thing to do. It's a different culture, and we wouldn't want to do anything to embarrass her."-Reuters