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New Delhi, November 10: Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi highlighted that Maneka Gandhi was very motivated to secure a political position in the party following the death of her husband Sanjay Gandhi, but former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi refused as Maneka was too young for a major leadership role and needed to focus on raising her infant son.
In 'Belonging: A Journey of Love', Sonia Gandhi revealed that Maneka Gandhi's mother repeatedly urged the Congress party members to demand a political position for her daughter, following the death of Sanjay Gandhi. Indira Gandhi refused the demands, stating that there would be enough time to fulfil political dreams.
"Maneka's mother was believed to be encouraging those in the Congress Party who'd been personally loyal to Sanjay to demand a political position for his widow. Perhaps they feared being sidelined in the party and losing the power they had when Sanjay was alive. Within a week of his death, a senior and respected journalist close to Maneka and her mother had written of her in his column as the only possible inheritor of the Sanjay cult figure. Clearly a plan was afoot. But Mrs Gandhi felt that at twenty-three Maneka was still too young and immature to be given a leadership role. Besides, she had a three-month-old baby and would need to be with the little one; she should be patient; there would be enough time later to fulfil her political ambitions. But it became clear that she had her sights set elsewhere," she stated in the memoir.
Sonia Gandhi emphasised Indira Gandhi’s distress over Maneka's political haste, citing a rare, unmailed letter reflecting on Sanjay’s personal struggles and troubled marriage.
In the unsent letter, Indira reflects on Sanjay's internal burdens, attributing his struggles not just to the heavy expectations of his lineage as Jawaharlal Nehru’s grandson and her son, but also to a marriage that lacked mutual understanding.
"My mother-in-law was disturbed by Maneka's rush to secure a political position. In a letter she later wrote (but never mailed) to someone who had sent with his condolence message a book of poems written by a child suffering from cancer, she said: 'My child suffered too. But it was deep down within him. No illness, no hospital . . . He was no poet. He was no intellectual. He had perception of a rare kind. Fiercely honest, his intolerance of hypocrisy antagonised many. He suffered because he was Nehru's grandson, his mother's son and later still for what he himself was . . . and finally his marriage that denied him the shared understanding which is the very basis of love . . .," she wrote in the book.
In the memoir, Sonia Gandhi recalled how Indira Gandhi felt deeply wounded when her proposal for Feroze Varun’s first birthday gathering in March 1981 was rebuffed. Instead, the party took place at the home of Vasundhara Raje, a political opponent affiliated with the RSS. Tensions further escalated when Raje facilitated the sale of Surya magazine to an RSS associate. To Indira Gandhi, this act dishonoured her family’s legacy and confirmed Maneka’s intent to leave.
Sonia said that the final showdown was when Maneka Gandhi aligned with political dissidents by participating in a public rally in Lucknow while Indira Gandhi was abroad. Upon her return, she offered Maneka two choices: either to stay away from political disloyalty or to leave the residence and live elsewhere.
"The final showdown came after Maneka took part in a supposedly non-political rally in Lucknow, organised by dissidents, while Mrs Gandhi was in London on an official trip. She had received messages from her office that Maneka was having her belongings moved out of her rooms—clearly preparing her exit. On her return from London, my mother-in-law let her displeasure be known, telling Maneka that as part of the family she couldn't continue in disloyal political activities; she must make a choice: either to refrain, or to live elsewhere," she stated.
Sonia further stated that Maneka Gandhi responded with accusations, allegedly meant to damage Indira Gandhi's reputation. After this, it was clear that Maneka would, in fact, leave the Congress party, placing the blame on both Indira Gandhi and the author herself.
"She reiterated her position in a letter, to which Maneka returned a missive full of accusations, obviously meant to damage her mother-in-law. It became clear that she was intent on creating a furore by which she would leave the house, placing the blame publicly on Mrs Gandhi. She had confided her plan weeks in advance to a journalist friend," she wrote.
Further, she recollected the intense legal battle between former Prime Minister and her daughter-in-law, Maneka Gandhi, following her departure from the family home, detailing the emotional turmoil brought about by legal proceedings after the public fallout with Maneka.
Sonia Gandhi recounted that Indira Gandhi became a predictable target for her political opponents after Maneka Gandhi left.
As per the memoir, Indira Gandhi had requested Maneka Gandhi to send baby 'Feroze Varun Gandhi' to meet her on Sundays, to which Maneka agreed but did not keep the commitment.
Sonia Gandhi said that Maneka was playing a cruel game, noting that even if she would send Varun Gandhi over to meet the former Prime Minister, she would abruptly call and demand his return.
"Maneka's exit provoked a predictable attack on Mrs Gandhi by her political opponents. My mother-in-law felt wounded and helpless. She had pleaded with Maneka at the time of her departure to send the baby over at least once a week on Sundays, and Maneka had agreed, but she didn't keep her commitment. On a few occasions she did allow Feroze Varun to come over, but she'd abruptly call the office, interrupting a loving interlude, and demand that the child be sent back immediately. It was almost as if she was playing a cruel game," she stated.
Further, she said that young Feroz's visits stopped suddenly, prompting Indira Gandhi to initiate legal proceedings so she could meet her grandson.
Highlighting a stressful instance, she further claimed that Maneka Gandhi refused to let young Feroze meet Indira Gandhi on his fourth birthday by sending a message through a lawyer stating that if Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law wanted to see the child, she must visit Maneka's residence.
"After a few times, even those visits were suddenly stopped, for no apparent reason. That prompted Mrs Gandhi to initiate legal proceedings to be allowed access to her grandson. The responses were lacerating. While the proceedings were dragging on, Feroze's fourth birthday came around. His mother flatly refused to let the child visit his grandmother, sending a message through a lawyer that if Mrs Gandhi wanted to see him, she should come to Maneka's house," she stated in the memoir.
Upon the refusal, Indira Gandhi asked Sonia Gandhi to deliver some gifts to Feroze Gandhi at his nursery school. This was followed by kidnapping allegations from Maneka Gandhi the very next day.
"By then my mother-in-law was caught up in the gathering storm in Punjab and asked me to drop some gifts at his nursery school. The next day there were articles in the newspapers with accusations from Maneka that I'd been sent to kidnap the child. My mother-in-law's last reply to Maneka's lawyer was dated April 19, 1984, less than two months before the fateful army action that came to be known as Operation Blue Star," she noted.
'Belonging: A Journey of Love' is a memoir which chronicles Sonia Gandhi's journey from her childhood in post-war Italy and her romance with Rajiv Gandhi to her life in India and the personal losses that shaped her relationship with her adopted country.
The memoir hit the bookstores across the country on Tuesday. (ANI)
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