Sanjay Gandhi
- Died:
- June 23, 1980, New Delhi (aged 33)
- Title / Office:
- Lok Sabha (1980), India
- Notable Family Members:
- mother Indira Gandhi
Who was Sanjay Gandhi?
What was Sanjay Gandhi’s role during the Emergency?
How did Sanjay Gandhi die?
Sanjay Gandhi (born December 14, 1946, New Delhi, India—died June 23, 1980, New Delhi) was an Indian politician and a member of the Indian parliament. He was widely viewed as the heir apparent to his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (1966–77 and 1980–84). He was known for his controversial role in government, particularly during the Emergency (June 1975–March 1977). During this period he spearheaded a contentious birth control campaign that led to forced sterilizations. He also oversaw building demolitions as part of urban development efforts. He died in a plane crash in 1980 at the age of 33 after which his brother, Rajiv Gandhi, emerged as their mother’s political successor.
Early life
In 1971 an automobile company called Maruti (Sanskrit: “Son of the Wind God”) Motors Limited was established, and Sanjay Gandhi served as its first managing director. It was conceived as a project to manufacture modestly priced cars for the Indian market. Although he received about 300 acres of land in Haryana from the state government for the factory, the project did not materialize because of production delays and a barrage of political criticism. The project was dissolved after Indira Gandhi lost the 1977 Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) elections. However, it was revived in the early 1980s following his death and Indira Gandhi’s return to power, with the government of India taking ownership of the project. Maruti eventually collaborated with Japanese company Suzuki Motors to manufacture the affordable and popular car Maruti Suzuki 800.
Gandhi belonged to a political dynasty. His great-grandfather, Motilal Nehru, was a close associate of Mohandas (“Mahatma”) Gandhi and a prominent leader in the Indian Independence Movement. His grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, served as the first prime minister of independent India, and his mother was the first woman prime minister of India.
Sanjay Gandhi struggled academically and did not attend university. He was fascinated by cars and took a training course in automotive engineering at Rolls-Royce in England. He became a licensed pilot in 1976 and was skilled at aerobatics.
Political career and controversies
Gandhi’s tryst with politics began in 1975 after Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, in which she suspended civil liberties and arrested thousands of political opponents. He acted as a key adviser to his mother and exerted great political influence during the Emergency. An American reporter described Gandhi as the “chief national overseer” for his mother’s government. Moreover, he attempted to consolidate his growing political influence through several controversial policies.
Birth-control program
One of Gandhi’s most criticized initiatives was his birth-control campaign, “Stop at two,” aimed at curbing India’s soaring population. It was part of his five-point program, which included planting trees, increasing literacy, fighting the dowry system, and abolishing the caste system. The campaign was controversial because of the forced nature of many sterilizations. Police reportedly cordoned off villages and rounded up underprivileged men for vasectomies. In just one year, more than six million men were forcibly sterilized.
Building demolitions
Another program that drew widespread criticism was Gandhi’s large-scale clearance of mostly poor, overcrowded residential areas. Viewing certain neighborhoods as obstacles to urban development, he ordered the demolition of homes in Old Delhi, including in the Jama Masjid and Turkman Gate areas. Although Delhi remained the epicenter of demolitions, similar drives were carried out in other states, including Gujarat and Haryana, by state governments. The evictions at Turkman Gate led to riots, during which several people were shot by the police. The death toll remains uncertain and according to the Shah Commission of Inquiry, set up in 1977, about 6–20 people died at Turkman Gate. Overall, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the program. The Shah Commission of Inquiry found that the demolition drive was the “single greatest act of excess” committed during the Emergency. The commission noted:
Here was a young man who literally amused himself with demolishing residential, commercial, and industrial buildings in locality after locality without having the slightest realization of the miseries he was heaping on the helpless population.
Destruction of film tapes
Gandhi allegedly ordered the destruction of the prints of the film Kissa Kursee Ka (“Tale of a Throne”) at his Maruti car factory in Haryana during the Emergency. The film, a satirical critique of his policies and political influence, was seen as a threat to his image. Kissa Kursee Ka was eventually reshot and released in 1978. Gandhi was later found guilty of conspiring to destroy the film by a Delhi court and sentenced to two years in prison. He spent a month in jail during trial. In April 1980, the Supreme Court of India acquitted him.
Election to the Lok Sabha
The excesses of the Emergency fueled a backlash against the government, and Indira Gandhi was voted out of office in the 1977 elections. However, she won a landslide election in 1980, following voter discontent with rising crime and inflation. That year Sanjay Gandhi won a seat in the Lok Sabha, where he had an outsize influence, and was considered the second most powerful person in the country, behind only his mother. In May 1980, just a month before he died, Gandhi helped steer his mother’s ruling Congress (I, or Indira) Party to eight wins in nine state elections.
Death
Gandhi died at the age of 33 on June 23, 1980, along with his flight instructor, while performing acrobatic loops in their light stunt plane, which crashed near the official residence of the prime minister. He is survived by wife Maneka Gandhi and son Feroze Varun Gandhi, both of whom are members of the Bharatiya Janata Party.