Sonia Gandhi's book recalls Maneka Gandhi's wedding to Sanjay and tensions in the family home

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has written about her family and political journey in her book 'Belonging: A Journey of Love'. It mentions her brother-in-law Sanjay Gandhi and his wife Maneka Gandhi. These portions of the book have now sparked discussion.

Sonia Gandhi writes that in late 1973, Sanjay Gandhi met Maneka Anand at the engagement of a school friend. Maneka was 10 years younger than Sanjay. She was the daughter of an Army officer, had studied at Lady Shri Ram College and had done some modelling. The relationship was only a few days old when talk of marriage came up.

According to Sonia, Indira Gandhi was surprised. Sanjay had introduced girlfriends to the family before, but this was the first time he had spoken of marriage, and so soon after the relationship began. Indira asked Sanjay to wait. Maneka was a minor at the time, and had to be 18 to marry.

In the book, Sonia writes: "Indira feared that the age difference would make it difficult for the two to adjust to each other. More worrying still was information she had received. Maneka's mother, Amteshwar Anand, was pressing Sanjay to fix a wedding date. Indira had confirmed this with a close friend of Sanjay's."

After Sanjay insisted, the two were soon engaged and married in September 1974. Sonia writes: "Maneka was a very spirited, talkative girl full of energy. Having such a sister-in-law at home was a great relief. I loved listening to her talk. Priyanka too was often found in Maneka's room listening to her stories. But slowly the mood at home began to change and irritation set in."

Sonia wrote that at home she was called "Bahurani", and as Maneka was the wife of her younger brother-in-law, she was called "Chhoti Bahurani". For the family, both were daughters of the house and of equal standing. "But Maneka perhaps found this insulting. Sometimes she spoke rudely, and I kept quiet to maintain peace. But when I felt things were getting out of hand, I did not stay quiet and answered back."

On the differences between Sanjay and Maneka, Sonia wrote: "When Sanjay and Maneka spoke in raised, angry voices, the differences between them began to show clearly. In anger, Maneka would abuse even in front of Indira Gandhi. Living in a joint family must have been difficult for a young girl of a sociable nature. Sanjay was busy with his car project. Indira Gandhi worked all day. Rajiv was a pilot, and I was occupied with the house and the children. Our home must have seemed dull to her, and too strict. Later Maneka began going to political events with Sanjay, and her behaviour settled somewhat. Maneka started a magazine called 'Surya', in which her mother was a director and Maneka was the editor."

According to Sonia, during the Emergency many senior party leaders were upset with Sanjay Gandhi's conduct. Sanjay was accused of taking arbitrary decisions. Indira Gandhi was meanwhile worried about Maneka's role. Sonia says that instead of calming Sanjay, Maneka encouraged his actions and often took part in them. Sonia writes in the book that Indira Gandhi told the then Cabinet Secretary P. N. Dhar about Maneka: "She is already starting to sprout wings."

After these accounts from Sonia, all eyes are now on what Maneka Gandhi will say.