Maneka Gandhi

Maneka Gandhi

Maneka Gandhi in May 2014
Minister of Women and Child Development
Assumed office
26 May 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Preceded by Krishna Tirath
Member of Parliament
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded by Varun Gandhi
Constituency Pilibhit
In office
2009–2014
Preceded by Sarvraj Singh
Succeeded by Dharmendra Kashyap
Constituency Aonla
In office
1996–2009
Preceded by Parshuram Gangwar
Succeeded by Varun Gandhi
Constituency Pilibhit
In office
1989–1991
Preceded by Bhanu Pratap Singh
Succeeded by Parshuram Gangwar
Constituency Pilibhit
Minister of State – Independent Charge (Programme Implementation and Statistics)
In office
18 November 2001 – 30 June 2002
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of State – Independent Charge (Culture)
In office
1 September 2001 – 18 November 2001
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
In office
13 October 1999 – 1 September 2001
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Personal details
Born (1956-08-26) 26 August 1956
New Delhi, India
Political party Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s) Sanjay Gandhi
Relations See Nehru–Gandhi family
Children Varun Gandhi
Residence

New Delhi, India

...
As of 27 May, 2014
Source: Government of India

Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (née Anand; born 26 August 1956, Delhi, India) is the Indian Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development in the Government of PM Narendra Modi. She is also an animal rights activist, environmentalist, and widow of the Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi. She has been a minister in four governments, and has authored a number of books in the areas of etymology, law and animal welfare. Maneka Gandhi is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi Family.

Personal life

Maneka was born in Delhi into a Sikh family. Her father was Indian Army officer Lt. Col. Tarlochan Singh Anand and her mother was Amteshwar Anand. She went to Lawrence School and later Lady Shri Ram College for Women.[1][2] She subsequently studied German at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.[3]

Maneka first met Sanjay Gandhi at a cocktail party thrown by Maneka's uncle Major-General Kapur to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of his son Veenu Kapur in 1973. Maneka eventually married Sanjay, the son of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi one year later on 23 September 1974.[4]

The Emergency saw the rise of Sanjay into politics and Maneka was seen with him almost every time on his tours as she helped him in campaigns. It is often said that during the Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi had total control over his mother and that the government was run by the PMH (Prime Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister Office).[5][6][7]

Maneka Gandhi founded the news magazine Surya which later played a key role in promotion of the Congress party after its defeat in the 1977 election following the Emergency.

She went to court to fight an attempt by the government in power at the time to confiscate her passport and won a landmark decision on personal liberty. In the case of Maneka Gandhi v Union of India,[8] the court found that "Democracy is based essentially on free debate and open discussion, for that is the only corrective of government action in a democratic setup."

She gave birth to a son in 1980 named Feroze after his paternal grandfather. Her mother-in-law added the name Varun. Maneka was just twenty-three years old and her son just 100 days old, when her husband, Sanjay, died in an air crash.[9]

Early life and career

Maneka's relationship with Indira Gandhi gradually disintegrated after Sanjay's death and they would continually argue with one another. She was eventually thrown out of 1,Safdarjung Road, the prime minister's residence after a fallout with Indira.[2] She founded the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch along with Akbar Ahmed Dumpy. The party primarily focused on youth empowerment and employment. It won four out of five seats in the Elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Maneka contested the Amethi constituency from Uttar Pradesh for the 1984 general election for the Loksabha but lost to Rajiv Gandhi due to the wave of sympathy he received from his mother's assassination. In 1988, she joined V.P. Singh's Janata Dal and became the General Secretary. In November 1989 Maneka won her first election to Parliament and became a Minister of State as the Minister for Environment.[10]

Activism

Maneka Gandhi is a self-described environmentalist and animal rights leader in India.[11] She has earned international awards and acclaim.[12] She was appointed chairwoman of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) in 1995. Under her direction, CPCSEA members carried unannounced inspections of laboratories where animals are used for scientific research were conducted.

She has filed Public Interest Litigations that have achieved the replacement of the municipal killing of homeless dogs with a sterilisation programme, the unregulated sale of airguns and a ban on mobile or travelling zoos. She currently chairs the Jury of International Energy Globe Foundation which meets annually in Austria to award the best environmental innovations of the year. She is a member of the Eurosolar Board and the Wuppertal Institute, Germany.

She started the organisation People for Animals[13] in 1992 and it is the largest organisation for animal rights/welfare in India. Maneka Gandhi is also a patron of International Animal Rescue. She is a vegan[14] and has advocated this lifestyle on ethical and health grounds. She also anchored the weekly television program Heads and Tails, highlighting the suffering meted out to animals due to their commercial exploitation. She has also authored a book under the same title. Her other books were about Indian people names. She is a cast member for the documentary A Delicate Balance.[15]

She is chairperson of Rugmark which works to rehabilitate children in the carpet trade. Rugmark has won awards for rescuing the maximum number of bonded child labour.

Electoral history

Positions held

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Model, Gandhi bahu, Modi's minister: Maneka's fight against dynasty - Firstpost". 27 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Exclusive extract from Khushwant Singhs autobiography".
  3. ↑ "Mrs Gandhi's son to marry". St. Josephs News Press. 29 July 1974. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Singh, Kushwant (10 February 2002). "Mrs. G, Maneka and the Anands". The Tribune. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Mystery Called Sanjay Gandhi". Scribd. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Express News Service (11 June 2013). "Emergency 'propagandist' who banned Kishore Kumar songs". Indian Express. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Dasgupta, Swapan (July 1985). "Sanjay Gandhi". Third World Quarterly. 7 (3): 731–778. doi:10.1080/01436598508419863.
  8. ↑ "Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India, 1978 AIR 597". Supreme Court of India. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  9. ↑ Basu, Arundhati (6 August 2005). "Art of commitment". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India.
  10. ↑ "At a glance: Maneka Gandhi- from a 'charming model' to 'union minister of India'".
  11. ↑ Biographical Sketch
  12. ↑ See, e.g., Gandhi's MP "Biographical Sketch" in which her profession is described as "Writer, Animal Activist and Environmentalist". See also, "Indian Scion Speaks Out, and Uproar Follows Him" (NYT, 2 April 2009) which states: "Maneka Gandhi has cultivated a reputation as an animal rights champion."
  13. ↑ "PEOPLE FOR ANIMALS". peopleforanimalsindia.org.
  14. ↑ Will we have a night safari? Interview
  15. ↑ "The cast from A Delicate balance - the Truth". adelicatebalance.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  16. ↑ "Award for Maneka Gandhi". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 November 2010.
  17. ↑ "MYLAPORE TIMES". mylaporetimes.com.
  18. ↑ India News – News from India, Latest India News, Online India News Headlines Archived 19 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
Lok Sabha
Preceded by
Bhanu Pratap Singh		 Member of Parliament
for Pilibhit
1989 – 1991 		Succeeded by
Parshuram Gangwar
Preceded by
Parshuram Gangwar		 Member of Parliament
for Pilibhit
1996 – 2009 		Succeeded by
Varun Gandhi
Preceded by
Sarvraj Singh		 Member of Parliament
for Aonla
2009 – 2014 		Succeeded by
Dharmendra Kashyap
Preceded by
Varun Gandhi		 Member of Parliament
for Pilibhit
2014 – Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Krishna Tirath
Minister of State (Independent Charge)		 Minister of Women and Child Development
26 May 2014 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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