Maneka Gandhi is an Indian politician and animal-rights activist. He is from BJP and is MP from Pilibhit, UP. Maneka is the founder of an organization, People for Animals; Which is India’s largest organization for animal welfare and animal rights.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Maneka Gandhi was born on Sunday, 26 August 1956 (age 67 years; as in 2023) in New Delhi. Her zodiac sign is Virgo. He did his schooling from The Lawrence School, Sanwar, Himachal Pradesh; Which is one of the best boarding schools in India.
Maneka Gandhi in school
She did her graduation from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi. He studied German from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She participated in many beauty pageants and fashion shows when she was in college. This led to her interest in modeling and she took up many modeling assignments while she was in college.
Maneka Gandhi participated in many beauty pageants in college
She got her first big modeling assignment when she was selected as a model for an advertisement for Bombay Dyeing. He received a lot of appreciation for this advertisement. Sanjay Gandhi fell in love with her after seeing her in the advertisement.
Maneka Gandhi in Bombay Dyeing advertisement
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 5″
Weight (Approx): 65 kg
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Black
Maneka Gandhi
Family, Caste and Husband
Maneka Gandhi belongs to a Sikh family. He was born to Lieutenant Colonel Tarlochan Singh Anand and Amateshwar Anand. His father was in the army and his mother was the publisher of her own magazine Surya. She has a sister, Ambika Shukla, who is an animal rights activist. Maneka was married to Sanjay Gandhi, son of former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi.
Maneka Gandhi’s father Tarlochan Singh Anand
Maneka Gandhi’s mother Amteshwar Anand
Maneka Gandhi’s sister Ambika Shukla
Maneka Gandhi’s husband Sanjay Gandhi
Gandhi family tree
livelihood
Maneka Gandhi joined politics soon after her marriage to Sanjay Gandhi. She campaigned with Sanjay and participated in rallies, but, she never contested elections or was in active politics. After her husband’s death, she was sure that she would get Sanjay’s position in the party, and that she would participate in politics with Indira Gandhi, but, Sanjay was replaced by Rajiv Gandhi in politics, which was quite a shock for Maneka. ; Because he felt cheated. After differences with Indira Gandhi, he along with supporters of Sanjay Gandhi formed a party named “Rashtriya Sanjay Manch” in 1983.
Maneka Gandhi is helping Sanjay in political campaigns
His party contested the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections and won 4 out of 5 seats. This was a great achievement for him; Because his party was quite new. In 1984, she contested the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi against Rajiv Gandhi, but she lost; Because of the public sympathy he received after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
Maneka Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi
In 1988, he merged his party with the Janata Dal and was also appointed its general secretary. In 1999, she was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time on a Janata Dal ticket. He was also appointed as the Minister of State for Environment in the VP Singh government. He contested the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Pilibhit and won. In 1999, she supported the BJP as an independent candidate and was appointed as the Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Maneka Gandhi with Atal Bihari Vajpayee
In 2004, he and his son Varun Gandhi joined the BJP. She contested the Lok Sabha elections from Pilibhit parliamentary constituency and has been winning since then. In 2014, she was inducted into the Narendra Modi government as the Union Minister of Women and Child Development.
Maneka Gandhi taking oath as Union Minister of Women and Child Development
controversies
- In 1982, Indira Gandhi forced Maneka to leave her house and live a separate life. After Sanjay’s death in 1980, Maneka wanted to be in Sanjay’s place as she believed that he should replace her husband, but, Indira Gandhi brought Rajiv Gandhi into politics, which was a blow to Maneka. . Maneka, along with Sanjay’s supporters, started a group named “Sanjay Vichar Manch”. He used to hold conferences and speak against the Gandhi family. Indira Gandhi was very angry about this. He confronts Maneka and accuses her of ill-behaving with him. An argument then ensued, after which Maneka was asked to leave Indira’s house, saying that she did not deserve to live there.
Maneka Gandhi is leaving Indira Gandhi’s house
- In 2014, before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Maneka Gandhi approached the BJP leadership and appealed to them to nominate her son, Varun Gandhi, as the Chief Ministerial candidate of Uttar Pradesh. He discussed this publicly and many people criticized him for being desperate.
Maneka Gandhi with Varun Gandhi
- In 2019, he was served a show cause notice by the Election Commission for a hate speech he delivered during a rally in Sultanpur. She said that if the Muslims of her constituency did not vote her to power, she would not help them in getting jobs. Many people including his party condemned this statement and distanced themselves from this statement saying that these are not the views of the party.
Awards and honors
- Lord Erskine Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in 1992
- Environmentalist and Vegetarian of the Year 1994
- Prani Mitra Award in 1996
- Devliben Charitable Trust Award, 1999
- Venu Menon Lifetime Achievement Award by Animal Allies Foundation, 1999
- Dinanath Mangeshkar Adishakti Award in the field of Environment and Animal Welfare, 2001
- Woman of the Year Award by International Women’s Association, 2001
- Rukmini Devi Arundale Animal Welfare Award, 2011
- Human Achiever Award in the field of women empowerment and child welfare by Human Achiever Foundation, India
fact
- She was known as the “Towel Girl” for her towel commercials with Bombay Dyeing in the 1970s.
Maneka Gandhi in Bombay Dyeing advertisement
- He started his magazine Surya in 1977. It was a political magazine in which articles and interviews of Indira Gandhi were published. This helped Congress and Indira Gandhi a lot; Because it swayed public opinion in its favor and ultimately helped Congress get re-elected in 1980.
- In 1989, she became the youngest MP to become a Union minister at the age of 33.
- When their son Varun Gandhi was born, he was named after Sanjay’s father Firoz. Later Indira Gandhi named him Varun. Varun’s official name is still Firoz Varun Gandhi.
- Her husband Sanjay Gandhi wanted to bring up their children according to Parsi religion.
- He is an ardent animal lover. He has started his own organization named “People for Animals” in 1992. It is the largest organization for animal rights and welfare in India, and she is also the president of the organization. His organization works with international organizations in the same field such as Humane Society International (HSI) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
Maneka Gandhi is working for people for animals
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Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn