Maneka Gandhi
Gandhi in 2014
Union Minister of Women and Child Development
In office
26 May 2014 (2014-05-26) – 24 May 2019 (2019-05-24)
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byKrishna Tirath
Succeeded bySmriti Irani
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
23 May 2019 (2019-05-23) – 4 June 2024 (2024-06-04)
Preceded byVarun Gandhi
Succeeded byRambhual Nishad
ConstituencySultanpur, Uttar Pradesh
In office
16 May 2014 (2014-05-16) – 23 May 2019 (2019-05-23)
Preceded byVarun Gandhi
Succeeded byVarun Gandhi
ConstituencyPilibhit, Uttar Pradesh
In office
16 May 2009 (2009-05-16) – 16 May 2014 (2014-05-16)
Preceded bySarvraj Singh
Succeeded byDharmendra Kashyap
ConstituencyAonla, Uttar Pradesh
In office
10 May 1996 (1996-05-10) – 16 May 2009 (2009-05-16)
Preceded byParshuram Gangwar
Succeeded byVarun Gandhi
ConstituencyPilibhit, Uttar Pradesh
In office
1989 (1989) – 1991 (1991)
Preceded byBhanu Pratap Singh
Succeeded byParshuram Gangwar
ConstituencyPilibhit, Uttar Pradesh
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Programme Implementation and Statistics
In office
18 November 2001 (2001-11-18) – 30 June 2002 (2002-06-30)
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
In office
January 1990 – April 1990
Prime MinisterVishwanath Pratap Singh
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Culture
In office
1 September 2001 (2001-09-01) – 18 November 2001 (2001-11-18)
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
In office
13 October 1999 (1999-10-13) – 1 September 2001 (2001-09-01)
Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests
In office
December 1989 – June 1991
Prime MinisterVishwanath Pratap Singh
Chandra Shekhar
Personal details
BornManeka Anand
(1956-08-26) 26 August 1956
New Delhi, Delhi, India
PartyBharatiya Janata Party (since 2004)
Other political
affiliations
  • Rashtriya Sanjay Manch
    (1983 – 1988)
  • Janata Dal
    (1988 – 1998)
  • Independent
    (1998 – 2004)
Spouse Sanjay Gandhi ​ ​(m. 1974; died 1980)​
ChildrenVarun Gandhi (son)
RelativesSee Nehru–Gandhi family
Occupation
As of 27 May, 2014Source: Government of India

Maneka Gandhi (also spelled Menaka; née Anand) (born 26 August 1956) is an Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist. She served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, and is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She is the widow of Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi. Gandhi has held ministerial positions in four governments, most recently serving in Narendra Modi's government from May 2014 to May 2019.

In addition to her political work, Gandhi is an author, with several books on etymology, law, and animal rights.

Personal life

Maneka Anand was born on 26 August 1956 in Delhi, India, into a Sikh family. Her father, Lt. Col. Tarlochan Singh Anand, served as an officer in the Indian Army, and her mother, Amardeep Kaur Anand, was the daughter of Sir Datar Singh. Maneka attended The Lawrence School, Sanawar[1] and later studied at Lady Shri Ram College for Women.[2][3] She subsequently studied German at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.[4]

Maneka first met Sanjay Gandhi in 1973 at a cocktail party hosted by her uncle, Major-General Kapur, to celebrate his son's upcoming wedding. Maneka married Sanjay, the son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, one year later on 23 September 1974.[5]

During The Emergency of 1975–77, Sanjay rose to political prominence, and Maneka frequently accompanied him on tours, assisting with his campaigns. It is often said that during the Emergency, Sanjay had significant influence over his mother, Indira, and that the government was effectively run from the Prime Minister's House (PMH) rather than the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).[6][7][8]

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

Gandhi also went to court to fight an attempt by the government in power to confiscate her passport, winning a landmark decision on personal liberty in the case of Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India.[9] 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."

In 1980, Gandhi gave birth to a son, Feroze, named after his paternal grandfather. Her mother-in-law added the name Varun. Maneka was widowed at just twenty-three years old, with Varun only 100 days old, when her husband died in an air crash.[10]

Early life and career

Maneka's relationship with Indira Gandhi deteriorated following Sanjay's death, with frequent arguments leading to an eventual rift. Maneka was ultimately asked to leave 1, Safdarjung Road, the prime minister’s residence, after a dispute with Indira.[3] On April 3, 1983, she co-founded the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch with Akbar Ahmad, focusing on youth empowerment and employment. The party won four out of five seats in the Elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Gandhi later published The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names, acknowledging her husband’s Zoroastrian heritage.[11][12] She also published The Penguin Book of Hindu Names for Boys.[13]

Her personal secretary was Vijay Samnotra, an Indian Civil Servant and former head of the United Nations Environment Programme.

In the 1984 Indian general election, Gandhi contested the Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha but was defeated by Rajiv Gandhi. In 1988, she joined V. P. Singh's Janata Dal Party and became its General Secretary. Gandhi won her first election to Parliament in the 1989 Indian general election and served as the Minister of State for Environment in the V. P. Singh ministry.[14]

In June 2020, Kerala police filed a case against Gandhi following complaints that her statements regarding the death of a pregnant elephant promoted communal hatred. Gandhi accused residents of the Muslim-majority district Malappuram, despite the elephant's death occurring in a different district, Palakkad, approximately 90 km away. BJP leaders, including Gandhi, focused on Malappuram in their statements. She claimed: “It’s a murder. Malappuram is famous for such incidents, it’s India’s most violent district. For instance, they throw poison on roads so that 300–400 birds & dogs die at one time.” Gandhi was accused of communalizing the incident, which would otherwise have been under the jurisdiction of the Department of Forests.[15] A group named Kerala Cyber Warriors later hacked the website of Gandhi's organization, People for Animals, in protest.[16]

Activism

Maneka Gandhi is an environmentalist and animal rights advocate in India.[17] She has earned international recognition and awards for her work.[18] In 1995, she was appointed chairwoman of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA). Under her leadership, CPCSEA members conducted unannounced inspections of laboratories using animals for scientific research.[19]

In 1996, Gandhi protested the opening of the first McDonald's restaurant in India, stating that "we don't need cow killers in India" to justify her opposition.[20]

Gandhi has filed Public Interest Litigations that led to the replacement of municipal killing of homeless dogs with a sterilization program (commonly known as ABC programs), regulated the sale of airguns, and banned mobile or traveling zoos. She currently chairs the Jury of the International Energy Globe Foundation, which meets annually in Austria to award the year’s best environmental innovations. She also serves on the boards of Eurosolar and the Wuppertal Institute in Germany.

In 1992, Gandhi founded People for Animals,[21] now the largest animal rights organization in India. Her sister, Ambika Shukla, is also a leading member. She is a patron of International Animal Rescue. As a vegan,[22] she promotes this lifestyle for ethical and health reasons. She also hosted the weekly television program Heads and Tails, which highlighted the suffering of animals due to commercial exploitation, and later authored a book with the same title. Her other books cover Indian names. Additionally, she appeared in the documentary A Delicate Balance.[23]

In September 2023, Gandhi advocated for protecting Dol Ka Badh forest in Jaipur, writing a letter to the chief secretary of Rajasthan with examples supporting the forest’s conservation.[24]

Electoral history

Positions held

Gandhi hosted Maneka's Ark, an environmental talk show which aired on the Indian national public broadcaster Doorarshan's DD National channel in the 1990s.[25][26] She had earlier hosted Heads & Tails, an animal rights show, on the same channel.[26]

Awards

Books

See also

References

  1. "Members : Lok Sabha". loksabhaph.nic.in.
  2. "Model, Gandhi bahu, Modi's minister: Maneka's fight against dynasty". Firstpost.com. 27 May 2014.
  3. "Exclusive extract from Khushwant Singh's autobiography". 31 October 1995.
  4. "Mrs Gandhi's son to marry". St. Joseph's News Press. 29 July 1974.
  5. Singh, Kushwant (10 February 2002). "Mrs. G, Maneka and the Anands". The Tribune.
  6. "Mystery Called Sanjay Gandhi". Scribd. 21 November 2007.
  7. Express News Service (11 June 2013). "Emergency 'propagandist' who banned Kishore Kumar songs". Indian Express.
  8. Dasgupta, Swapan (July 1985). "Sanjay Gandhi". Third World Quarterly. 7 (3): 731–778. doi:10.1080/01436598508419863.
  9. "Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India, 1978 AIR 597". Supreme Court of India.
  10. Basu, Arundhati (6 August 2005). "Art of commitment". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  11. Gandhi, Maneka; Husain, Ozair (2 August 2017). The Complete Book of Muslim and Parsi Names. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780143031840 – via Google Books.
  12. Hinnells, John (28 April 2005), The Zoroastrian Diaspora: Religion and Migration, OUP Oxford, pp. 397–398, ISBN 978-0-19-826759-1
  13. Gandhi, Maneka (2004). The Penguin Book of Hindu Names for Boys. New Delhi: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-303168-0. OCLC 60391724.
  14. "At a glance: Maneka Gandhi - from a 'charming model' to 'union minister of India'". 7 July 2013.
  15. Rakesh, K.M. (6 June 2020). "Maneka Gandhi booked for jumbo hate drive". Telegraph India.
  16. "People for Animals website hacked". The Hindu. 5 June 2020.
  17. "Biographical Sketch". Parliamentofindia.nic.in. Archived from the original on 1 May 2015.
  18. See, e.g., Gandhi's MP "Biographical Sketch Archived 1 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine" 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."
  19. "Maneka Sanjay Gandhi". Sachbharat.in. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017.
  20. "IT'S LAMB BURGER, NOT HAMBURGER, AT BEEFLESS MCDONALD'S IN NEW DELHI". The Washington Post.
  21. "PEOPLE FOR ANIMALS". peopleforanimalsindia.org.
  22. Maneka Gandhi On Veganism | वीगनवाद पर मेनका गांधी Hindi | India – via www.youtube.com.
  23. "The cast from A Delicate balance – the Truth". adelicatebalance.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009.
  24. https://twitter.com/8PMnoCM/status/1699665136867549448
  25. "Maneka's motives, BJP's 'mission'!". Rediff. 1 March 1999.
  26. "Television « Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd". Archived from the original on 12 June 2021.
  27. "Award for Maneka Gandhi". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 November 2010.
  28. "MYLAPORE TIMES". Mylaporetimes.com. February 2011.
  29. India News – News from India, Latest India News, Online India News Headlines Archived 19 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  30. Murari, Krishan (17 April 2025). "When Atal Bihari Vajpayee mocked Maneka Gandhi for picking social justice ministry". ThePrint.
  31. "Nip India - Neurodiversity Foundation". neurodiversiteit.nl. 15 April 2025.
  32. "Neurodiversity Foundation - Neurodiversity Foundation". neurodiversiteit.nl. 30 April 2019.
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