Sanjay Gandhi
Sanjay Gandhi (
December 14,
1946 -
June 23,
1980) was an
Indian politician of
Kashmiri and
Parsi heritage; he was the younger son of
Feroze Gandhi and his wife
Indira Gandhi. He was a close political advisor of
Indira Gandhi, when she was the
Prime Minister. He was accused of abuses during the
Emergency and died in a stunt airplane crash shortly after his mother's return to power. He had been elected to the
Parliament of India five months before his death.
Sanjay and his elder brother
Rajiv Gandhi studied at
The Doon School, as well as in
England. Sanjay never attended college, but took up an apprenticeship with
Rolls-Royce. He was very interested in sports cars, and he also obtained a pilot's license. During his years in England, he was convicted for reckless driving. Many speculate that he along with some brash friends even resorted to stealing cars. The Indian High Commission had to bail him out on several occasions. He did not complete his apprenticeship, returned to
India and began living with his mother in
Delhi. While his brother Rajiv was building a career as an airline pilot independent of politics, Sanjay grew close to his mother, and became involved in political affairs.
In 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Cabinet proposed the production of a "people's car" - a cheap, affordable and efficient indigenious machine that middle-class citizens could afford. While Sanjay had no experience, design proposal or tie-ups with any corporation, he was awarded the contract and the exclusive production license. The criticism that followed this decision was mostly directed at Indira, but the 1971
Bangladesh Liberation War and victory over
Pakistan drowned out the issue. India's victory and subsequent Congress landslide in the elections only left Indira Gandhi more powerful. The
Maruti Udyog Ltd., the nation's premier automobiles corporation of today was founded by Sanjay Gandhi, but the company did not produce any vehicles. A test model put out as a showpiece of progress was criticized. Public perception turned against Sanjay, and many began to speculate of growing corruption.
No official and proper investigation has been carried out, but reports of journalists and investigations carried out by them suggest that Sanjay had created a money-laundering empire, handing out kickbacks for fees paid by large corporations that sought to curry favor with the son of the Prime Minister. According to many, Sanjay conducted a campaign of collecting funds, land, capital and production materials from industrialists, who were regarded as currying favour. This is believed to have resulted in substantial personal profit for Sanjay, as well as new political connections, although he produced no vehicles. Several Congress politicians were also suspected of involvement.
In 1974, the opposition-led protests and strikes had caused a widespread disturbance in many parts of the country and badly affected the government and the economy. Prime Minister Gandhi declared a national emergency, enforced martial law, delayed elections, censored the press and suspending some constitutional freedoms in the name of national security. Non-Congress governments throughout the country were dismissed. Thousands of people, including several
freedom fighters like
Jaya Prakash Narayan and
Jivatram Kripalani who were against the Emergency, both ailing old men, were arrested.
In the extremely hostile political environment just before and soon after the Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi rose in importance as Indira's advisor. With the defections of former loyalists, Sanjay's influence with Indira and the government increased dramatically, although he was never in an official or elected position.
Involvement in politics and government
It has been suggested that Sanjay's influence with his mother helped to ensure that the Emergency was declared and it is clear that Sanjay only increased his power with the Emergency (1975-1977). Although he had not been elected and held no office, Sanjay began exercising his new-found influence with Cabinet ministers, high-level government officers and police officers. While many Cabinet ministers and officials resigned in protest, Sanjay reportedly appointed their successors.
In one famous example,
Inder Kumar Gujral, the future Prime Minister resigned from the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting when Sanjay attempted to direct the affairs of his ministry and give him orders. Gujral is reported to have angrily rebuked Sanjay and refused to take orders from an un-elected person.
Jama Masjid slum and Family planning controversies
Sanjay reportedly ordered officials of the Delhi Development Authority to clear the heavily populated, mostly
Muslim slum near the
Turkmen Gate and
Jama Masjid in
Delhi, forcibly destroying thousands of ramshackle homes, and killing a large number of people.
Sanjay also publicly initiated a widespread family planning program, his "vision" for a contained population growth and a nation without crowding. But this resulted in government officials and police officers forcibly performing vasectomies, literally castrating young men, and in some cases, sterilizing women. Officially, men with two children or more had to voluntarily submit to this, but many unmarried young men, political opponents and ignorant, poor men were also sterilized. This infamous program of his is still remembered and criticized in India, and is blamed for creating a public aversion to
family planning, which hampered Government programmes for decades.
Prime Minister Gandhi opted for fresh elections in
1977 (one year overdue), released her opponents and ended the emergency. But when she and her Congress Party was defeated in a massive landslide by the
Janata Party coalition, Sanjay recommended a re-imposition of Emergency which Gandhi decided against. The new Janata Government promptly appointed tribunals to look into Emergency abuses. As Home Minister,
Charan Singh ordered the arrest of Indira and Sanjay. Newspapers published reports of Sanjay's abuses: vasectomies, tortures, murders and graft. It was during this time that Sanjay Gandhi was largely demonized in the eyes of the public.
The arrest of Indira Gandhi began to be viewed as unfair and they were soon released for lack of evidence. The Janata coalition begin to crumble and the tribunals collapsed. In
1979, Prime Minister
Morarji Desai resigned. His successor was
Choudhary Charan Singh, who upon failing to secure support from a majority of MPs who had earlier formed the Janata coalition, turned to Indira Gandhi for support. She promised him that support, but a few months later withdrew it, forcing new elections and the end of Janata's time in power.
Vigorously attacking the confusion in the years of the crumbling Janata government, Indira exploited her heroine-Goddess image of the
1971 war and the tough ruler of the early Emergency years. She tactfully apologized for "mistakes" during Emergency, and made allies out of key political foes. The people of India were tired of the chaos and inefficiency of the Janata administration, which had failed to address any of their basic problems. In January of
1980, Indira and her Congress (I) Party returned to power in a landslide. Sanjay was elected to a parliamentary seat from
Amethi, in
Uttar Pradesh.
It has been controversially suggested that Sanjay exercised a deep emotional control over his mother, which was often misused. Some, including
Khushwant Singh, have claimed that he tapped his widowed mother's apparent loneliness to build his influence and control over political affairs and national policy. Sanjay Gandhi had married a young Punjabi woman,
Maneka. They had a tumultous marriage and allegations of Sanjay's infidelities are reportedly documented. The marriage endured, however, and they had a son,
Varun Gandhi.
Sanjay's relationship with his elder brother was especially worse, as Rajiv was deeply affected by his mother's situation after her political defeat in 1977. According to accounts provided in Frank's biography of Indira, Rajiv directly blamed Sanjay for her condition, affirming his destructive influence upon his mother and the government.
*
Ved Mehta,
A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers (1982) ISBN 0195031180
* Katherine Frank,
Indira: the life of Indira Nehru Gandhi (2002) ISBN 039573097X
