Sanjay Gandhi Age

Indian politician Sanjay Gandhi was born in New Delhi, on 14 December 1946, as the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi.

Sanjay Gandhi Family

He was an Indian politician and the son of Indira Gandhi. He was a family member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Sanjay Gandhi Education

Like his elder brother Rajiv Gandhi, he studied first at Welham Boys’ School and then at the Doon School in Dehradun.

Sanjay did not attend university, but took up automotive engineering as a career and underwent an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce in Crewe, England for three years.

Sport cars interested him. He  also obtained a pilot’s licence in 1976. He was interested in aircraft acrobatics and won several prizes in that sport.

Sanjay Gandhi Wife

Maneka Gandhi is wife of Sanjay Gandhi. She first met him at a cocktail party thrown by Maneka’s uncle Major-General Kapur to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of his son Veenu Kapur in 1973.

Maneka eventually married Sanjay, the son of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi one year later on 23 September 1974.

Sanjay Gandhi Children

Varun Gandhi was born in Delhi on 13 March 1980 to Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi. He died in a plane crash when Varun was three months old in June 1980.

Sanjay Gandhi Biography

In 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet proposed the production of a “People’s car”. An efficient indigenous car that middle-class Indians could afford.

In June 1971, sanjay incorporated a company known as Maruti Motors Limited (now Maruti Suzuki) under the Companies Act. He became its Managing Director.

During the Emergency, Sanjay became active in politics and the Maruti project went on a back burner.

On 25 June 1975 following an adverse court decision against her, Indira Gandhi declared a national emergency, delayed elections, censored the press and suspended some constitutional freedoms in the name of national security.

Indira dismissed Non-Congress governments throughout the country. Police arrested thousands of people opposing emergency, including several freedom fighters like Jaya Prakash Narayan and Jivatram Kripalani.

In the extremely hostile political environment just before and soon after the Emergency, Sanjay rose in importance as Indira’s adviser.

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.

It was also quipped that he had total control over his mother and that the government was run by the PMH (Prime Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister Office)

Sanjay Gandhi Constituency

Sanjay stood for his first election to the Indian parliament following the lifting of the Emergency in March 1977.

This election saw the crushing defeat of not only Sanjay in his constituency of Amethi but also the wiping out of Indira’s Congress party throughout Northern India.

However, Sanjay won Amethi for the Congress(I) in the next general election held in January 1980.

Sanjay Gandhi Congress

Just one month before his death, he was appointed secretary general of the Congress Party in May 1980.

Sanjay Gandhi Death Date

He died instantly from head wounds in an air crash on 23 June 1980 near Safdarjung Airport in New Delhi.

He was flying a new aircraft of the Delhi Flying club, and, while performing an aerobatic manoeuvre over his office, lost control and crashed.

Sanjay Gandhi Film

Amrit Nahata directed satirical film Kissa Kursi Ka was a  by  that lampooned and him and his mother Indira Gandhi . The film was submitted to the Censor Board for certification in April 1975.

The film had lampooned his car manufacturing plans, besides Congress supporters like Swami Dhirendra Brahmachari, private secretary to Indira Gandhi R.K. Dhawan, and Rukhsana Sultana.