Sanjay Gandhi 42nd death anniversary: Rare and unseen pics

Sanjay Gandhi was the younger son of former PM Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi.

He was born in New Delhi on December 14, 1946, and studied at St. Columbia’s School in Delhi, Welham Boys’ School in Dehra Dun and then at Doon School in Dehra Dun. Later, he also went to Ecole D’Humanité in Switzerland.

He was expected to succeed his mother as the head of the Indian National Congress.

However, he couldn't pursue a political career due to his early death in 1980.

Rajiv Gandhi ended up succeeding him as their mother’s political heir and INC head.

Sanjay Gandhi’s wife Maneka Gandhi and son Varun Gandhi are part of BJP.

After his schooling, without a university education, Sanjay Gandhi took up an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce in Crewe, England.

Although Sanjay Gandhi wasn’t elected into the government, he began trying to exert his influence during the Emergency imposed by his mother and former PM Indira Gandhi.

It has been alleged that Gandhi inducted troublemaker youth into the party to fight against any opposing powers.

He got into tiffs with Cabinet Ministers who felt Gandhi was asserting himself without any formally elected powers or authority.

Former Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Inder Kumar Gujral refused to take orders from an unelected Sanjay Gandhi and was then removed from his position.

Another controversial act of Sanjay Gandhi was his Jama Masjid beautification and slum demolition as an outcome of that.

According to reports, Sanjay, when had visited Turkman Gate, found that he couldn’t clearly see the Jama Masjid because of the slums surrounding it.

This is why he ordered for the removal of the slum tenements leading to displacement of around 70,000 people.

The slum demolition was opposed by many slum dwellers and in the process police reportedly fired at them leading to 150 deaths.

Sanjay Gandhi is also associated with the infamous sterilization program to control population in the country.

A few years before his death, an attempt was made to assassinate Sanjay Gandhi by unknown gunmen in New Delhi in 1977.

Regarding his personal life, Gandhi married Maneka Anand (now Gandhi) in 1974. She was 10 years younger than him. Their son Varun was born shortly before Gandhi’s unfortunate death.

Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi are part of the BJP now.

In 2017, Priya Singh Paul, claimed that she was Sanjay Gandhi’s biological daughter but had been adopted by another family.

She announced his claim to move to court to stop the release of the film ‘Indu Sarkar’ which she claimed showed the Gandhi dynasty in a negative manner.

He officially tried to enter the Indian Parliament when he stood for his first election after the Emergency in March 1977.

However, he faced defeat in his constituency of Amethi.

Sanjay ended up winning in the next general election for Amethi in the year that he died.

Gandhi died in a fatal plane crash on June 23, 1980.

He died after failing to perform an acrobatic maneuver in the plane, leading to a deadly crash.

His body was badly mutilated due to the crash and he suffered severe head wounds.

There was another passenger in the plane Captain Subhash Saxena who also died.

According to reports, Gandhi had worn a traditional attire while piloting the plane even though his brother Rajiv had advised him against it.

He had worn a kurta pyjama and kohlapuri chappals during the flight according to reports. After Sanjay Gandhi’s death, Rajiv Gandhi became Indira Gandhi’s political successor.