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 and later studied at Lady Shri Ram College for Women. She subsequently studied German at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. 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. 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). 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. 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.

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. 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. She also published The Penguin Book of Hindu Names for Boys. 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.

Activism

Maneka Gandhi is an environmentalist and animal rights advocate in India. She has earned international recognition and awards for her work. 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. 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. 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, now the largest animal rights organization in India. She is a patron of International Animal Rescue. As a vegan, 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. 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.

Criticism

Gandhi has often faced criticism for her comments. In June 2021, Gandhi called a veterinarian, threatening to cancel his license over what she deemed a botched amputation surgery on a dog. Despite the veterinarian’s efforts to explain that he had exercised due care and that the dog, being aggressive, had torn off its own bandages and reopened its wounds post-surgery, Gandhi reportedly used abusive and unparliamentary language. The recorded call was later shared widely on social media, leading veterinary associations to condemn and protest her behavior. In June 2017, during a Facebook Live session, Gandhi claimed that men do not commit suicide. Her comment received backlash, with participants pointing out that 68% of suicide cases reported in India involved men. Gandhi then spent the rest of the session responding to related questions. In January 2021, activist Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj shared an audio recording in which Gandhi allegedly berated a man for hitting a dog and threatened to file a sexual harassment complaint against him. The man claimed the incident was in self-defense, as the dog had bitten his daughter. In March 2017, Gandhi stated that early curfews for young women in hostels helped control "hormonal outbursts." The remark prompted widespread backlash. In 2016, Gandhi voiced her opposition to criminalizing marital rape, a stance that sparked significant criticism. 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. A group named Kerala Cyber Warriors later hacked the website of Gandhi's organization, People for Animals, in protest.

Electoral history

Positions held

In popular culture

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. She had earlier hosted Heads & Tails, an animal rights show, on the same channel.

Awards

Books