Sanjay Gandhi
Sanjay Gandhi | |
---|---|
Amethi, Uttar Pradesh | |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Delhi, British India (present-day New Delhi, Delhi, India) | 14 December 1946
Died | 23 June 1980 New Delhi, Delhi, India | (aged 33)
Cause of death | Aircraft accident |
Political party | Indian National Congress |
Spouse | |
Children | Varun Gandhi (son) |
Parents |
|
Relatives | Rajiv Gandhi (brother) See Nehru–Gandhi family |
Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 – 23 June 1980)
During his lifetime, he was widely expected to succeed his mother as head of the Indian National Congress and Prime Minister of India, but following his early death in a plane crash, his elder brother Rajiv became their mother's political heir and succeeded her as Prime Minister of India and President of the party after her assassination. His wife Maneka Gandhi and son Varun Gandhi are politicians in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Early life and education
Gandhi was born in
Maruti Limited controversy
In 1971,
Role during Emergency
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. On 25 June 1975 following an adverse court decision against her,
In the extremely hostile political environment just before and soon after the Emergency, Gandhi rose in importance as Indira's adviser. With the defections of former loyalists, Gandhi's influence with Indira and the government increased dramatically, although he was never in an official or elected position. According to Mark Tully, "His inexperience did not stop him from using the power his mother, Indira, had taken to terrorise the administration, setting up what was in effect a police state."[9]
It was said that during the Emergency, he virtually ran India along with his friends, especially Bansi Lal.[10] It was also quipped that 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).[11][12][13] He "recruited into the party thousands of younger people, who used threats and force to intimidate rivals and those who opposed Mrs Gandhi's authority or his own."[14]
During the emergency, Indira declared a 20-point economic programme for development. Gandhi also declared his own much shorter five points program promoting:
- Literacy
- Family planning
- Tree Planting
- Eradication of Casteism
- Abolition of dowry
Later during the emergency Sanjay's programme was merged with Indira's 20-point programme to make a combined twenty-five point programme.[15]
Out of the five points, Sanjay is now chiefly remembered for the family planning initiative that attracted much notoriety and caused longterm harm to population control in India.[16][17]
Involvement in politics and government
Although he had not been elected and held no office, Sanjay began exercising his newfound influence with Cabinet ministers, high-level government officials and police officers. While many Cabinet ministers and officials resigned in protest,[18] Sanjay reportedly appointed their successors.
In one famous example,
Sanjay stood for his first election to the
Just one month before his death, he was appointed secretary general of the Congress Party in May 1980.[20]
Jama Masjid beautification and slum demolition
Sanjay Gandhi and Brij Vardhan, accompanied by
Compulsory sterilization program
In September 1976, Sanjay Gandhi initiated a widespread compulsory sterilization program to limit population growth. The exact extent of Sanjay Gandhi's role in the implementation of the program is somewhat disputed, with some writers[22][23][24][25] holding Gandhi directly responsible for his authoritarianism, and other writers[26] blaming the officials who implemented the program rather than Gandhi himself.
Forced sterilisation was by far the most calamitous exercise undertaken during the Emergency. The IMF and World Bank had periodically shared their fears with New Delhi about the uncontrolled rise in population levels. India’s democracy was a hurdle: no government could possibly enact laws limiting the number of children a couple could have without incurring punishment at the ballot box. But with democracy suspended, the IMF and World Bank encouraged Indira to pursue the programme with renewed vigour. Indira and Sanjay, the self-styled socialists, inflicting on Indians the humiliation of forced sterilisation in order to appease western loan sharks: the irony was lost on them. Socialism, like much else, had been reduced to a slogan.
— David Frum, reviewing The Sanjay Story by Vinod Mehta[27]
Attempted assassination
Sanjay Gandhi escaped an assassination attempt in March 1977.[28] Unknown gunmen fired at his car about 300 metres south-east of New Delhi during his election campaign.[28]
Opposition years (1977–1980)
After losing the 1977 general election, the Congress party split again with Indira Gandhi floating her own Congress(I) faction. She won a by-election from the
Kissa Kursi Ka case
Subsequently, all the prints and the master-print of the film at Censor Board office were picked up and brought to Maruti factory in
Support for Charan Singh
The Janata coalition under prime minister Morarji Desai was only united by its hatred of Indira Gandhi.The party included right wing Hindu Nationalists, Socialists and former Congress party members. With little in common, the Morarji Desai government was bogged down by infighting. In 1979, the government started to unravel over the issue of dual loyalties of some members to Janata and the RSS. The ambitious Union Finance minister, Charan Singh, who as the Union Home Minister during the previous year had ordered arrest of Gandhi, took advantage of this and started courting different Congress factions including Congress (I). After a significant exodus from Janata party to Charan Singh faction, Morarji Desai resigned as prime minister in July 1979. Charan Singh was appointed Prime Minister, by President Reddy, after Indira and Sanjay promised Singh that Congress(I) would support his government from outside on certain conditions.[35][36] The conditions included dropping all charges against Indira and Sanjay. Since Charan Singh refused to drop the charges, Congress withdrew its support and President Reddy dissolved Parliament in August 1979.
Before the
1980 Indian elections
The Congress(I) under Gandhi swept to power in January 1980.[38] Elections soon after to legislative assemblies in States ruled by opposition parties brought back Congress ministries to those states. Sanjay Gandhi at that time selected his own loyalists to head the governments in these states.[39]
Personal life
Gandhi married
Death
At 8:10 a.m. on 23 June 1980, Gandhi lost control of his aeroplane while performing an
Aftermath
The death of Gandhi impacted the political face of India.
Family
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References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8225-4963-5.
- ISBN 978-0-230-34053-4.
- St. Petersburg Times, 10 January 1966.
- ^ a b "Maruti and Sanjay Gandhi: The history of an illicit, extraordinary love affair". Motoroids.
- ISBN 978-0-230-34053-4.
- ^ Bhupesh Bhandari (11 July 2015). "Emergency and Sanjay Gandhi: How Maruti's origin lies in cronyism, corruption and blackmail". Business Standard.
- ^ Sunil Sethi & Prabhu Chawla (1 March 2014). "Maruti Commission report: no fear to remember". India Today.
- ^ The Maruti Udyog official Website Timeline Page Archived 12 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 81-291-0917-4
- ^ Subodh Ghildiyal (29 December 2010). "Cong blames Sanjay Gandhi for Emergency 'excesses'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Mystery Called Sanjay Gandhi". Scribd. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ "Emergency 'propagandist' who banned Kishore Kumar songs". Indian Express. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- .
- required.)
- ISBN 978-0-520-23122-1.
- ^ Eliza Ann Lehner. "Conceiving the Impact: Connecting Population Growth and Environmental Sustainability" (PDF). Harvard College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-8213-6951-7.
- ^ a b Moro, Javier (2015) The red sari. Roli Group, 429 p.
- ^ R. Guha (2008). India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. Pan Macmillan.
- ^ a b c Ranjan Gupta (24 June 1980). "Sanjay Gandhi dies in plane crash". Reuters via The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ISBN 9788131734650.
- ^ Vinay Lal. "Gandhi". Archived from the original on 6 January 2005. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
Sanjay Gandhi, started to run the country as though it were his personal fiefdom, and earned the fierce hatred of many whom his policies had victimized. He ordered the removal of slum dwellings, and in an attempt to curb India's growing population, initiated a highly resented program of forced sterilization.
- ^ Subodh Ghildiyal (29 December 2010). "Cong blames Sanjay Gandhi for Emergency 'excesses'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 August 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
Sanjay Gandhi's rash promotion of sterilization and forcible clearance of slums ... sparked popular anger
- ^ Kumkum Chadha (4 January 2011). "Sanjay's men and women". Archived from the original on 4 February 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
The Congress, on the other hand, charges Sanjay Gandhi of "over enthusiasm" in dealing with certain programmes and ... "Unfortunately, in certain spheres, over enthusiasm led to compulsion in enforcement of certain programmes like compulsory sterilisation and clearance of slums. Sanjay Gandhi had by then emerged as a leader of great significance.".
- ^ "Sanjay Gandhi worked in an authoritarian manner: Congress book". 28 December 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ K. Ishwaran (1988). India: The Years of Indira Gandhi. Brill Academic Pub.
- ^ "Hold Onto Your Penis". The Daily Beast. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
- ^ a b "Sanjay Gandhi escapes assassination". St. Petersburg Times. 15 March 1977. Retrieved 19 January 2013.
- ^ Maramkal, M-B (2013). "Chikmagalur remembers Indira Gandhi". No. 20 November. Times of India.
- ^ "Mrs. Gandhi is Jeered". The Spokesman-Review. 21 November 1978. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
- ^ "How Fernandes ran a high-voltage campaign for Chikkamagaluru bypoll - Times of India". The Times of India. 30 January 2019.
- ^ a b c "30 greatest stories revisited: Sanjay Gandhi and 'Kissa Kursi Ka' film lampooning him : Cover Story". India Today. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ^ a b "1978– Kissa Kursi Ka: Celluloid chutzpah : Cover Story". India Today. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- St. Petersburg Times. 27 February 1979. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-8129-7977-0.
- ISBN 978-81-7835-340-1.
- ISBN 978-81-8069-165-2. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
- ^ "Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister - Jan 19, 1966 - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-275-96832-8.
- ^ "Quiet Wedding in New Delhi". The Milwaukee Journal. New Delhi. AP. 3 December 1974. Retrieved 19 January 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ISBN 978-0-19-826759-1
- ^ Time, July 7 1980, page 9
- ^ [Vinod Mehta "The Sanjay Story, 2015 Harper Collins Publishers India.]
- ^ [India Today] https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19800715-sanjay-gandhi-dies-in-a-dramatic-plane-crash-his-passing-to-leave-a-political-vacuum-821253-2014-01-22 [Issue date:-15 July 1980]
- ^ "Election Results 2014: BJP Leader Varun Gandhi Wins From Sultanpur". NDTV.com. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
External links
- Sanjay Gandhi at IMDb