Sanjay Gandhi

Sanjay Gandhi (December 14, 1946 –- June 23, 1980) was an Indian politician, the younger son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and politician Feroze Gandhi. A controversial figure, he was accused of abuses during the Emergency and died in an aeroplane crash shortly after his mother's return to power. He had been elected to the Parliament of India five months before his death.

Early life

Sanjay, along with his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi, studied Grades 1 to 6 at the Welham Boys' School and Grades 7 to 12 at The Doon School in Dehra Dun, as well as in England. Sanjay never attended college, but took up an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce. He was very interested in sports cars, and he also obtained a pilot's license. While his elder brother Rajiv was building a career as an airline pilot independent of politics, Sanjay chose to remain close to his mother.

Maruti Udyog controversy

In 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Cabinet proposed the production of a "people's car" - a cheap, affordable and efficient indigenous machine that middle-class citizens could afford. While Sanjay had no experience, design proposal or tie-ins with any corporation, he was awarded the contract and the exclusive production license. The criticism that followed this decision was mostly directed at Indira, but the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and victory over Pakistan drowned out the issue. Indira's victory and subsequent Congress landslide in the elections only left Indira Gandhi more powerful. Maruti Udyog, today India's premier automobile manufacturing corporation, was founded by Sanjay Gandhi, but the company did not produce any vehicles during his lifetime. A test model put out as a showpiece of progress was criticized. Public perception turned against Sanjay, and many began to speculate of growing corruption.

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. Prime Minister Gandhi declared a national emergency, enforced martial law, delayed elections, censored the press and suspended some constitutional freedoms in the name of national security. Non-Congress governments throughout the country were dismissed. Thousands of people, including several freedom fighters like Jaya Prakash Narayan and Jivatram Kripalani who were against the Emergency were arrested.

In the extremely hostile political environment just before and soon after the Emergency, Sanjay Gandhi rose in importance as Indira's advisor. With the defections of former loyalists, Sanjay'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 Draconian powers his mother, Indira Gandhi, had taken to terrorise the administration, setting up what was ineffect a police state. [ Mark Tully 'Amritsar Mrs. Gandhis last Battle, pp. 55, ISBN 81-291-0917-4]

Involvement in politics and government

It has been suggested that Sanjay's influence with his mother helped to ensure that the Emergency was declared and it is clear that Sanjay only increased his power with the Emergency (1975-1977). Although he had not been elected and held no office, Sanjay began exercising his new-found influence with Cabinet ministers, high-level government officers and police officers. While many Cabinet ministers and officials resigned in protest, Sanjay reportedly appointed their successors.

In one famous example, Inder Kumar Gujral, the future Prime Minister, resigned from the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting when Sanjay attempted to direct the affairs of his ministry and give him orders. Gujral is reported to have angrily rebuked Sanjay and refused to take orders from an unelected person.

Jama Masjid slum and Family planning controversies

In 1976, Sanjay Gandhi launched a drive to cleanse the city of slums and force their residents to leave the capital. Sanjay reportedly ordered officials of the Delhi Development Authority, headed by his associate Jagmohan, to clear the heavily populated, mostly Muslim slum near the Turkman Gate and Jama Masjid in Delhi. This forced resettlement of more than 250,000 people killed at least a dozen as recorded ["Twelve reported killed in New Delhi Clash", "The New York Times", April 20, 1976] and became a touchstone for the opposition.

Sanjay also publicly initiated a widespread family planning program to limit population growth. But this resulted in government officials and police officers forcibly performing vasectomies in order to meet quotas and in some cases, sterilizing women as well. Officially, men with two children or more had to submit to sterilization, but many unmarried young men, political opponents and ignorant, poor men were also believed to have been sterilized. This program is still remembered and criticized in India, and is blamed for creating a public aversion to family planning, which hampered Government programmes for decades.

1977-1980: disgrace and return

Prime Minister Gandhi opted for fresh elections in 1977 (one year overdue), released her opponents and ended the emergency. But when she and her Congress Party was defeated in a massive landslide by the Janata Party coalition, Sanjay recommended a re-imposition of Emergency which Gandhi decided against. The new Janata Government promptly appointed tribunals to look into Emergency abuses. As Home Minister, Charan Singh ordered the arrest of Indira and Sanjay. Newspapers published reports of Sanjay's alleged abuses: vasectomies, tortures, murders and graft.

Over time, the arrest of Indira Gandhi began to be viewed as unfair and they were soon released for lack of evidence. The Janata coalition begin to crumble and the tribunals collapsed. In 1979, Prime Minister Morarji Desai resigned. His successor was Choudhary Charan Singh, who upon failing to secure support from a majority of MPs who had earlier formed the Janata coalition, turned to Indira Gandhi for support. She promised him that support, but a few months later withdrew it, forcing new elections and the end of Janata's time in power.

Vigorously attacking the confusion in the years of the crumbling Janata government, Mrs Gandhi's heroine-Goddess image of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the tough ruler of the early Emergency years returned her the previous position. She apologized for mistakes during Emergency, and made allies out of key political foes. In January of 1980, Mrs. Gandhi and Congress (I) Party returned to power in a landslide. Sanjay was elected to a parliamentary seat from Amethi, in Uttar Pradesh.

Personal life and family

It has been controversially suggested that Sanjay exercised a deep emotional control over his mother, which was often misused. Some, including Khushwant Singh, have claimed that he tapped his widowed mother's apparent loneliness to build his influence and control over political affairs and national policy. Sanjay Gandhi had married a young Punjabi woman, Maneka Gandhi. They had a tumultuous marriage . The marriage endured, however, and they had a son, Varun Gandhi.

Sanjay's relationship with his elder brother was especially worse, as Rajiv was deeply affected by his mother's situation after her political defeat in 1977. According to accounts provided in Frank's biography of Indira, Rajiv directly blamed Sanjay for her condition, affirming his destructive influence upon his mother and the government.

Death

Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash on June 23, 1980 near Safdarjung Airport in New Delhi. He was flying a new aircraft of the Delhi Flying club, and while performing a loop over his Office, lost control and crashed. The only passenger in the plane, Captain Subhas Saxena was also killed in the crash.

References

* Ved Mehta, "A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers" (1982) ISBN 0-19-503118-0
* Katherine Frank, "Indira: the life of Indira Nehru Gandhi" (2002) ISBN 0-395-73097-X